The Red Whirlwind
by Pen E Forthotz
Summary: Near death, Naruto is offered a chance to escape and save two demensions at once by Kyuubi. Can he rescue the demon lords and stop a war while staying alive? ABANDONED
1. A nice conversation with a demon

**Title Pending: Conflicting Emotions, Getsukagure, A Love Octagon and a Fox, or The Red Whirlwind. Please vote on it if you get the chance.**

**Summary: AU Eight love-struck heirs to demonic clans, a trash-mouthed fox with nine personas, and a portal to a Demon Realm. NaruHina GaaraOC**

**A/N: Ok this is my first fic. It will be really long, estimating 30 chapters. I will update when I can, if I can. Any extremely long hiatuses will not occur or you will be warned. This is a Naruto-goes-away-for-X-number-of-years-and-becomes-powerful-and-smarter-than-he-was fic. It will also have a lot of AU-ness and the timing might be off. The story starts after the Sasuke retrieval arc and before Jiraiya takes Naruto on the three-year training mission. I will attempt to stick to cannon if I can for personalities but chances are I will be a bit OOC. My later chapters are much better than the opening. Also, I HATE Yaoi and Yuri. This is a romance/action/ HUMOR fic. Not much angst. My beta is currently indisposed but hopefully she will help with my mistakes. Possible crossovers if I can. Bios will be on my profile if I can. Sorry for rambling, but I had to get all that out there. **

"**Bold" **Kyuubi

"_Italic"_Naruto talking to Kyuubi

'_Italic single quotation' _Naruto thinking

Chapter 1

The moon shown through the trees of Konoha. A lone figure of a broken fourteen-year-old boy crawled forward painfully. Blood was caked on the dirt path behind him. The normally bright yellow hair was matted with dried blood and was almost brown. His clothes were also covered in gore and showed signs of a fierce battle. As he crawled he spat out another chunk of blood onto the grass next to him.

It was three weeks, four days, and twelve hours since Sasuke betrayed Konoha. Naruto was blamed by the council for the 'disappearance' of the 'loyal hero' of the Uchiha clan. As punishment for his crime, the council sent him alone on three missions to Otokagure to bring him back. If he were not back in Konoha after three days, he would be considered a missing nin. After returning from Oto, normally it took only a day before he was defeated, he was sent on another mission. The amount of wounds, fatal or not, did not matter to the council. In total, Naruto had been sent on eight missions, all S-Rank. Four were assassination missions in Iwakagure, one to Kumokagure, and the three rescue missions in Oto. He was ambushed, attacked, trapped, and tortured, not completing a single mission. His survival was only due to Kyuubi's healing powers.

Eighty-five percent of Naruto's chakra was used up. Kyuubi filled up the depleted stores with demonic chakra to prevent Naruto from passing out. Naruto's whisker scars were permanently dark and his canine teeth were longer and more fang-like. His senses were much stronger and he could talk to Kyuubi without having to go to the cage. This was a both a blessing and a curse. Due to not having anyone to talk to for thirteen years, the fox could be quite chatty.

"**For Kami's sake, Kit, you really are fucked up. If you had just let me take control and transform back to my own body for five minutes, I would have knocked the Uchiha prick unconscious, killed Orochimaru, and obliterated half the village without getting a scratch on me! But, no, you had to do it the hard way and make me save your butt by healing your cracked skull and severed gut!" The demon fox growled to the boy.**

"_Before or after Orochimaru seals your power back into me with a Five Pronged seal? I told you already furball, if I want to be powerful, then I have to do things by my self. If everything is handed to me on a silver platter, there is no way I would become strong. Also, chances are, you would not give control back." _Naruto thought spoke back.

"**Honestly, Kit, would I do that?" **Kyuubi said innocently.

"_Yes, yes you would. Sorry fuzzbutt, but I can't let you control my life. The only reason why I use your chakra is because it has been intergraded with my own since you were sealed into me. One Five Pronged Seal and I would be helpless if I depended on it, too. Why do you want to help me anyway? The fearsome Kyuubi no Kitsune helping complete missions. Why don't I just draw a Leaf Symbol on your forehead?"_

"**If you value your life you won't dare. To answer your question… I'M BORED!" **the beast roared inside Naruto's head.** "I need to run around for a bit, get some change of scenery. Stretch out my legs for a bit, eat some rabbits."**

"_Not in my body you bastard!"_

"**Its so dull inside your head! Lose the pipes, add a field, maybe some trees. At least dry up the water and add a sun! It smells like wet old socks in here!" **

"_If I knew how to fix what is inside my head I would! I give you the power to change what you would like if you know how. Why are you even talking to me anyway? Normally you would be threatening to eat my head and suck out my guts or something."_

"**Yeah, well, scaring the shit out of you gets kind of boring after a while. Also, I don't think you would need the extra stress with the council thinking _you _are _me. _A ridiculous concept, of course, but in some ways they are kind of correct. You_ are_ the heir to the Kitsune line, seeing as you have the only Kyuubi born in ten thousand years inside of you."**

"_Hold it right there fox. What are you talking about?"_

"**In the demon realm, there are nine clans: The Tanuki (**raccoondog**), Neko (**cat**), Same (**shark**), Kajitori (**literally fire bird**), Kame (**turtle**), Ookami (**wolf**), Ryuu (**dragon**), Hebi (**snake**), and Kitsune (**if you don't know this one please stop reading Naruto.**). Each clan has a maximum number of tails, one through nine. Every thousand years an heir is born to every clan at the same time. Each has the maximum number of tails for their clan. The heir is prodigy, if you wish. This only occurs in the first eight clans. However, in the most powerful clan, the kitsune, the only time an heir is born is when all nine clans are in danger of war and need a savior. So, as you can guess, when it was time for the clans to produce heirs and nine offspring were born, you could only guess at the amount of panic that aroused.**

**"The heirs were about sixteen in human years when they were introduced to each other. I had already met all of them at the age of five to maintain good relations with all the clans to keep my position as peacekeeper. Unlike humans, we biju have unlimited intelligence but the heirs are born with the combined intellect of past ancestors. However, I doubt common sense was passed down. In one of the biggest cosmic mess-ups in the history of the universe all of the heirs fell in love with each other."**

" _How is that bad?" _Naruto asked as he set up camp for the night.

"**The prince of the Kajitori, Haomaru, fell in love with the princess of Hebi, Orohime. Orohime fell in love with the prince of Ryuu, Denkou. Denkou fell in love with the princess of the Same, Kiriame. Kiriame fell in love with the prince of Tanuki, Kurosuna, or as you humans call him, Shukaku. Kurosuna fell in love with the princess of Kame, Shintateru.**

**She fell in love with the prince of Ookami, Kooritawa. He fell in love with the princess of Neko, Shintsume, but she fell in love with Haomaru! They all felt it was best to confide in me for my advice and I, of course, couldn't help them at all! Then, the heirs attempted to ask their crushes out and were instantly denied. I then had eight pissed off, rejected, and depressed teenage biju on my hands who all blamed me for not helping!**

"**Now they should have just gotten over their crushes but _nnnnoooooo_ Haomaru just _had _to hear the rumor that the human world takes away all of your pain and sadness. He found an ancient demon scroll that explains how to get to the human world and he tried it out, then to make matters worse, it actually worked and he was sent to your world. Sendo-chan followed her crush by using the scroll, then Koori followed her, and on and on until I was the only heir left! When the clans found out, lets just say I had to get my tails out of there and find those teens, fast. I also used the scroll but at least I memorized the jutsu to get back. **

**"Turns out the rumor was right. The human world does take away a biju's sadness. However, it also takes away every other emotion except for rage and insanity. There is something in the oxygen that seems to make demons go insane. Also the scroll basically transports us to random place in your world. I went to a forest outside of your village and when I woke up from my daze I was stuck inside a cage inside a one-year-old human's head! I guessed that the only way the biju are calmed are if they are correctly sealed inside a human host. I knew I would be stuck here for a while so I occupied my time devising a long lasting jutsu to counteract the affects of your atmosphere on my kind. Chances are my world is at war now because I am not there so would you mind helping me out?" the fox concluded in a plea.**

"_Ok Kyuubi, let me get this straight. You want me to help you collect the biju/jinchiruki (sp) so that we can stop a massive war that is going on in your realm. Not only do I have to find these demons or their containers, but I have to convince them to sit still long enough to counteract the affects of the atmosphere and give up their love?"_

"**Yup that sums it up. Oh and my name is not Kyuubi, that's only my title. My real name is Kasaigiri (flame of honor) but please call me Kasai. Oh and I will train you to use your powers that come with being a demon, and before you ask, yes you will become a demon fox if I understand this seal correctly. It should fuse our power together into your body, making you a sort of hanyou. Ingenious design, this cage, I must admit." **

"_I need to rest on this for a bit. Do I have a choice in helping you or not?"_

" **Would you rather stay in Konoha and attempt to complete missions that could and eventually will kill us both, or do you want to become the most powerful being in _both_ of our realms?"**

" _Now that you mention it, both of my choices kind of suck, don't they? I guess I will go with the one that doesn't immediately guarantee my death. How do I help you Kasai?_

"**First get rid of that orange suit and get another mission to have an excuse to leave the country without your hunter nins on our tails and we can work it out from there. Get some sleep we will figure the rest out once you get your chakra back and fully heal."**

"_Ok. That sounds good. I want to say goodbye to some of my friends." _Naruto told the fox before he shut off the mental link. His final thought before he fell asleep was,_ 'And maybe I can finally admit my feelings to her, too.'_

_**A/N: First chapter done. I hope to get the next chapter up soon too. Please Review. I need the ego boost! Flames welcome too!**_

_**Ja ne**_


	2. Some goodbyes

_**A/N Ok this is chapter 2. This is so far the longest chapter I have written (nine handwritten) but it is mostly showing the people who are important to Naruto and how they react to his missions. Naruto has not been sighted for a month so when he comes back, they have mixed emotions. This is just to develop Naruto's character. Also, Naruto has had a secret crush on Hinata for a while. In the chapter genma is on guard duty for two months because he sneezed while talking to an ambassador from Suna and almost punctured him with his senbon. Please don't flame me for this! Ages are estimated. My reviews will be commented inn the next section.**_

_**WARNING: HIGH IN GORE AND BLOOD**_

_**My first reviewers:**_

_**Heroes-of-Love- thanks for the compliment!**_

_**Sephiroth1991- I will try to slow it down a bit. I agree it seems to go really fast in the beginning but I will be working on it. I will see if I can find the website because I really need help with jutsus. I will try to update fast in the beginning because I have already written the chapters up to nine but after that I cant promise anything. **_

_**Jacko- I will not keep a full orange outfit like part one and two, sorry. However, I will keep some accents in orange, as you will read in this chapter. Try not to hyperventilate; I don't have enough money to be sued for manslaughter. Thank you for reviewing!**_

_**K-promises-fall- Thank you and don't worry about the short review I feel like that in the morning too!**_

_**NewSon- do you have any more concerns? PM me f you do.**_

_**Dragon Man 180- defiantly going to have Manda bashing, especially because summons are supposed to follow the orders of the biju they represent. Also Orohime is older than Manda in demon years. That scene is going to be fun to write. . **_

_**IlikefrenchfriesYAY1- love the penname. Thanks for the support!**_

"**Bold" **Kyuubi

"_Italic"_Naruto talking to Kyuubi

'_Italic single quotation' _Naruto thinking

Chapter 2

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The fourteen-year-old blond hobbled closer to the gate to Konoha. He had a gash on his leg that was sickly pulsating with red chakra. His orange jacket was torn to shreds, his right sleeve was missing and his arm was limp at his side, almost completely amputated by a sound blade. His face sported a small slash from the left side of his nose to his ear, barely missing his eye. His shirt was stained with blood, but where he was at one point almost disemboweled, there was only a small gash, and it was quickly healing.

Naruto now knew he could be almost cut in half and if Kyuubi pumped at least twenty percent of its chakra into it, after five hours, it would heal. In a past assignment, Naruto lost an arm, but it grew back in twenty-four hours with fifty percent demonic chakra. The regeneration process hurt more than receiving the wound and took a lot of chakra , so the fox only healed major injuries.

As the boy passed the gate guards, they nodded in respect. They figured that he deserved it after watching him come back from missions that would kill a normal human. He had come back with more wounds than they had thought were possible without dieing. One guard, Genma, the chunin exam proctor, walked over to see if he could help the boy get to the tower to give in his report, or if necessary to the hospital, but like always, the blond refused his help.

_**Flashback**_

Genma saw the Kyuubi container walk towards the gate. His left hand was mangled and his right arm looked half-formed and was engulfed in red chakra. The boy's hair was matted with dried blood. The guard hopped down from his post to help the boy. "Are you okay, kid? What the hell happened to you! You are a mess! Here, lean on me, I will get you to the hospital."

"Don't bother. The doctors refuse to help me anyway. I could die in the lobby and they would just glare at me for getting demon blood on the rug. Heh… isn't it funny... the only way I made it to chunin was s the council could send me on S-Rank death missions so the village could be rid of the resident 'demon boy.' Guess I showed them huh?

'No don't bother helping me walk, give it a day and it will heal. Besides, you would be shunned from society if you are seen helping the fox-demon!" The kid's voice was rough, like he had hurt his throat somehow.

Genma just stared after the boy as he limped into the city leaving a trail of blood behind him, heading to the hokage tower.

_**End Flashback**_

Genma had seen the boy in states that would kill a man and each time he would offer help. Every time, he was turned down with a simple shake of the head and the next day, the boy would once again set out on a mission he was destined to fail.

"Sure you don't need help, Naruto?"

The blond looked up and smiled a sad smile, then said, "You know my answer, but every time you offer help, even though you know my past. I will remember your kindness and determination in the future, Genma-senpai." The blond continues his walk to the tower.

Genma looked at the boy in shock. His words sounded like they should have come from a convict on death row, not a fourteen year old! The receding figure of the boy was burned into his mind forever. No child should suffer that much for something he had no control over.

XXX

Hinata just finished her training. She had run fifty laps around the training area, kicked the log one hundred times, and practiced Jyuuken (sp?) on a training dummy until she was low on chakra. Tired and sore, she took the scenic route home to stretch her legs out. From the side of her head she spotted a blond head of hair. She had not seen her crush since he had went on his first mission as a chunin. She went closer to see him.

Naruto walked to the hokage tower, making a detour around the center of town to avoid glares and people taking advantage of his weakened state. He walked past the training areas when he felt a familiar timid presence approaching. A jolt of panic raced through him. '_She can't see me like this! I am a mess!_'

He heard a gasp behind him. '_Shit, too late.' _

"Naruto-kun, what happened to you? You are covered in blood! What happened? Who did this to you? Stop moving and let me heal you!" Hinata's normally shy quiet voice was loud and forceful, even though she was crying. In shock, Naruto stopped and allowed himself to be pulled onto the ground in a sitting position. He was even more surprised when Hinata did an A-Rank medical jutsu and started to heal the cut on his face. Tears quickly fell from her eyes as she finished and used a diagnosis jutsu and saw the extent of the damage.

"Please don't cry Hinata-chan, I feel fine," Naruto lied to calm her down.

"**YOUR ARM IS HALFWAY OFF AND YOU SAY YOUR _FINE!" _**Hinata screamed at him then burst out crying full force.

"_Kasai, are you giving lessons on demonic voices by any chance? Also please check for genjutsu to see if this is really Hinata-chan"_

"**I am as shocked as you are," **the fox responded in awe.

"Hinata-chan, look this cut is already healing, see? I found out I had a bloodline that lets me heal really fast! Isn't that great?" Naruto said frantically trying to stop the tears, wincing at his obvious lie.

"Naruto-kun, sniff, I know that is not a bloodline. I knew since we first started class together and sob, father told me about the fox, and I don't care! You are really hurt badly and so stop trying to cheer me up!" She said still in tears then hugged Naruto gently.

Naruto was dumbstruck at his secret crush, knowing about the Kyuubi, and currently hugging him. The latter stuck out the most in his mind. He blushed faintly the stammered as he realized she was getting covered in his blood, "Please don't worry about me Hinata-chan. I have had worse wounds than this since the start of these S-Rank missions-"

"**_S-RANK MISSIONS? WORSE?"_**

"**You are not very good at this, are you, Kit?" **

"_Shut up."_

"Hinata-chan, calm down, it's alright, I am not going to die yet, it doesn't even hurt anymore! Ten bowls of ramen and I will be as good as new."

Hinata hiccupped and sniffled a giggle, "but you aren't going on anymore missions for a while, right?"

Naruto bit his lip and scratched the back of his neck with his good arm, then said, "I have been going on non-stop missions for a month, now. I can't promise that I won't be sent out again**." **

Seeing that Hinata's pure white eyes were filling with tears again, he waved his hands in defense**, "**How about I tell you a secret, but you have to stop crying now, okay?"

She sniffed and nodded

"Don't tell anyone, not even your team, okay?'

She nodded with more confidence.

" I am going to run away to a place where I won't be forced to go on suicide missions. Only I can find it, but I might be gone for a very long time. I will try to contact you discretely, if I can. I will be back Hinata-chan. I promise."

Hinata hugged Naruto, "Okay, Naruto-kun. But, please, don't get hurt. You mean a lot to me, I can't lose you." She said the last part in a whisper. Then, realizing what she had said and what she had been doing, she blushed a bright red, squeaked, let go of her crush, and jumped back, all in one fluid motion.

Naruto stood up and did something Hinata would never forget. He took her in his arms then quickly kissed her on the lips and said, "You mean a lot to me, too Hinata-chan."

He then continued his limp down the street to the Hokage tower, leaving one stunned and blushing girl in his wake.

Kasai no Kitsune was breaking out a bottle of sake to celebrate his containers first kiss to a girl. He knew Naruto would kill him for taking control of his body and making him kiss his crush, but the boy was in shock from the girl's words at the time, so the fox figured that he should do what both teens were fantasizing about. After all, Naruto daydreamed about it but was too shy, and Kami knows that Hinata wouldn't initiate a kiss.

An extreme force of killer intent crushed the demon fox inside the cage and a dark, evil, terrifying voice filled the room, "**_KYUUBI…WHAT DID YOU MAKE ME DO?"_**

For the first time in his life, the demon prince of all biju whimpered like a scared puppy.

In his terror he said the first thing that came to his mind, "**but you wanted to kiss her, too!"**

Oh yes, the Kyuubi was going down.

XXX

After an hour of torturing the demon fox, Naruto headed into the hokage tower to the mission report room. It was always empty at six o'clock because the D-Rank missions didn't tend to end until seven. The chunin, Izumo at the counter spotted the bloody teen and sighed, "They sent you again, didn't they?"

The blond nodded and sighed, "My insurance must hate me a lot by now."

The older man laughed, "You are now one of the most wealthy people in Konoha! Tsunade definitely was smart to set you up with that plan! Did you catch the traitor yet?"

"Not yet. Here is the paper work, sorry it's covered in blood." He set a beaten, slightly red folder on the counter.

"Not a problem. I am really sorry to do this to you, but the council wanted to give you another mission starting tomorrow morning. Kotetsu and I managed to convince them to give you some time to recuperate. It's an assassination in Kumo. Approx time two weeks. Target: the daimyo. Oh for Kami's sake, they are sending a kid to kill a daimyo? How idiotic can the council be! A kid! Kotetsu, can you believe this shit?"

Another chunin shouted from another station, "I know, the poor guy! He didn't have a friggin choice in the matter, why punish him? The daimyo are one of the most heavily guarded people in any country! I mean, they already sent him to kill a rich merchant there and he barely escaped with his life! How the hell is he supposed to survive killing a daimyo?"

"I'm not." Naruto said, a bit annoyed, "But I just have to show them, now, won't I?" he grabbed the clean mission folder off of the counter and headed to the door, "But, chances are I will not be able to return, so nice working with you two. Oh and do me a favor, and keep scaring the gennin in the chunin exams. It was quite funny to see two fully grown chunin disguised as gennin and fooling almost everyone!"

Before the dumbstruck chunin could reply the boy was out the door.

"Izumo, I think that boy was smarter than we thought. I heard he had been pranking everyone in the village since he was five. I believe his pranking legend should continue, don't you think?" Kotetsu said with a wicked grin that was soon matched by his partner.

"Oh, I think it is the least we could do." Izumo concurred. They both started to laugh evilly and made a passing team of gennin shudder.

Somewhere in a boardroom, every member of the council felt a shiver up their backs and gulped.

XXX

After taking a shower and resting for a bit, not to mention using a lot of bandages, Naruto headed to a familiar ramen stand. His leg was almost healed and his arm was reattached. The gash on his stomach was closed and, thanks to Hinata, he didn't have a scar on his face. Unfortunately, he only owned one outfit, so he washed off the blood and put the orange suit back on.

"What the hell happened to my best customer?" Teuchi, the owner, asked after spotting Naruto's ripped clothes.

"S-Rank mission number eight. I just received another one and I don't think it is physically possible for me to complete… again. I don't think I will come back after this one. Can you please make a lot of ramen, fifty bowls at least? I want to be able to remember it before I go. I can pay for it now, after all these missions."

"S-sure. Are you positive you wont be coming back?" The old man asked with sadness in his voice. The boy had been coming to Ichiraiku ramen since he was four and Teuchi felt as if he was a part of his family. Now, seeing him in such a state crushed his heart.

"Sorry, I don't think I will be able to return."

The boy started to plow through bowl after bowl of ramen, the stack of dishes getting higher as he ate. (Kyuubi meanwhile was destroying every bit of the stuff inside the boy's stomach like he had been for the past two years. He didn't want his container to be killed out of malnutrition. Death by ramen didn't sound very pleasant)

At bowl number thirty-six, Iruka walked into the stand and sat down next to the boy he considered his son. Naruto stopped eating to say, "Hi Iruka-sensei, don't worry I am paying for all of this." Then he continued to work on bowl thirty-eight.

"How was your mission and when did you get back? Also, why are your clothes destroyed?"

"Got back a few hours ago, it sucked, and my clothes were a lot worse when I came back, trust me. But then, S-Rank missions, what can ya do? Also, this is my last outfit."

The teacher stared at the blond. " You were sent on an S-Rank mission? Even I haven't been sent on an S- Rank mission!"

Teuchi spoke up from behind the counter; "He has actually been sent on eight in a row, and nine counting the one he has to go on tomorrow."

Iruka's jaw dropped to the floor. "You expect me to believe that Naruto was sent on nine S-Rank missions? And he is still here? Is the council insane?"

"Yes to all of the above, just thank the fox. I should be dead eight times over. I have to go assassinate the daimyo in Kumo in the morning so I was going to look for you to say goodbye but you saved me the trouble."

"You seem like you are okay with this!" Iruka said outraged and confused.

I have accepted my fate. I wanted to say thank you, you were probably the best teacher I had, and considering I had a jonin legend and a senin as my teachers, that is saying a lot. Or you could take it as me insulting my other teachers, however you wish. Chances are I wont be back so… thank you." The boy gave Iruka a hug, finished his fiftieth bowl, paid the tab and what he owned the ramen sand and left.

As soon as the boy left, the shocked teacher felt as if the rug was pulled out from under his feet. He did the only thing he could do, "Teuchi, care to share a bottle of sake?"

"Sure, Iruka." The owner of a now very rich ramen bar said with a sigh.

As a final gift to the ramen bar, Naruto hid a gigantic stack of money in the last bowl with a note that said _'to keep the stand running for as long as it takes to get a new best customer. Keep cooking! –With best wishes Naruto'_

XXX

Naruto walked out of the ramen stand and headed in the direction of his apartment. As he walked into the center of town he heard shouting coming from an intersection. Against his better judgment, he headed to check it out.

"Ino-pig!"

"Billboard-Brow!"

"Hog face!"

"Forehead girl!"

Naruto sweat dropped at the sight of the catfight.

"**Kit, if there is one thing I have learned as a peacemaker, Never EVER get within five feet of a pair of squabbling females. I highly suggest backing up slowly."**

Taking the fox's advice, Naruto pivoted on his heel and was about to make a break for it when- "Naruto, who do you think is the prettiest konoichi in Konoha, is it me, your friend and teammate -" Sakura said in a sweet voice, with hidden threat, before Ino cut in.

"or is it me?" Ino said, flipping her hair and beating her eyes at him with equal hidden threat.

"**I told you this would happen. At least they don't have claws like the ones I had to put up with."**

Without thinking Naruto went on terror mode ducked and quickly said, "Hinata!"

"WHAT!" the girls said in unison.

"**That was just about the stupidest thing you had ever done." **Kasai commented as Naruto ran.

"_You don't think I realize that!" _replied the blond as he hopped a fence and got stuck in a dead end.

The girls hopped over and were about to kill Naruto when Sakura noticed the boy's clothes. Her anger instantly vanished and was replaced by surprise. "Naruto, what the hell happened to your outfit? It is torn and ruined and is that a really big bloodstain! Are you okay?"

Sighing in relief at the distraction, Naruto calmly said, "Yeah, well…I was on a few missions and I got hurt kind of badly, but don't worry I heal pretty fast. I only own one pair of clothes but I was going to go shopping today-"

"WHAT? One outfit? US. SHOPPING. NOW!" the girls said in unison.

"**Kit, you have a lot to learn about females. Do NOT EVER tell a female you have to go shopping!"**

Ino latched onto the poor boy's left arm and Sakura took the right. The girls punched out of the alley through the wooden wall and headed to the richer side of Konoha.

'_What have I done?' _Naruto thought with a sweat drop.

After being dragged backwards halfway across the village, the girls stopped in front of the most expensive shinobi outfitters store in Konoha. Sakura turned Naruto around and looked in his eyes, "Okay Naruto, how much money do you have for a wardrobe?"

Ino nodded, "We need to know how much we can spend. Also what outfits do you need?"

Naruto looked uncomfortable but he pulled out a credit card. "I have enough money for anything you can find. Lets leave it at that. I need a training outfit, a travel pack big enough for a months worth of outfits, travel gear, undercover outfits, a cloak, and apparently something fancy. My next mission involves meeting some very important people and I need to find an outfit suitable for fancy occasions. (1)"

Naruto was listing off everything Kyuubi told him to buy. Apparently there is a strict demon code for meeting a mentor, elder, higher rank, friend, and just about everything else. The poor boy's bank account was not going to be as full in the morning.

The girls' eyes lit up at the amount of shopping they were going to do and the amount of money that they had to play with. They both dragged Naruto into the shop.

XXX

The shinobi shore was gigantic, however the only person working so early was a girl, about one year older than the trio. Naruto sighed in relief. The girl wouldn't kick him out of the store at least. The girls went in different directions, Ino to travel ware and Sakura to training and combat gear. Poor Naruto was still confused about how to navigate the huge store so he headed to a map.

The girl at the counter snorted a laugh, "Amateur!"

Eventually Naruto wound up meandering aimlessly in the isles. He became more and more depressed as he walked. There was no orange anywhere in sight.

Meanwhile Kasai was having a party celebrating the death of the 'Kill Me!' jumpsuit.

The blond kept searching as hard as he could to find even the tiniest bit of orange, and finally, he found a single silk bandana, a duller orange than he was used to but still okay for satisfying his need for the color. Running across it was a golden fox with nine tails.

"**Kit, I can't be too sure but I think that scarf is from the demon Realm. It has a bit of demonic cloaking on it so that only a biju could see it. That is a very lucky find. If I am not mistaken it has a protection jutsu on it. "**

"_So, I can get it without you complaining about the color?" _Naruto asked egerly.

"**Fine. But only because it has a fox on it."**

'_Softie!' _Naruto snickered in his head

XXX

Ino was having the time of her life looking for the clothes that would match Naruto. She was mentally singing for the death of the orange suit and unknowingly in harmony with Kyuubi.

The stack of clothes for Naruto was getting higher and higher as she figured out that all the outfits could fit to the owner. '_Ah the wonders of technology!'_ (2) She sighed as she grabbed a red trench coat. '_Too bad I could never afford this. Wait a minute, how the hell can Naruto?'_

She continued to ponder this as she headed to the travel packs.

XXX

Meanwhile, Sakura was filing through training outfits and chunin flak jackets. She too was carrying a huge pile of clothes in her arms. She spotted a black flak jacket deluxe model with extra scroll and shiruken pockets and grabbed it. The jacket even had silver buckles! "This is perfect!" she shouted with glee.

She also got four different patterns of training outfits and a battle kimono that was on sale. It was silver and black like the jacket but a lot fancier. "**SHARRANO not orange!" **Inner Sakura cried out.

XXX

The trio met up near the changing stalls and shoved a mountain of clothes onto poor Naruto. '_Thank god I ate. I will never get out of here!_' he groaned in his head.

He dropped the clothes on the rack inside the extra large room and picked the first outfit he could find.

When he came out he was wearing a silver battle kimono under a heavier black sleeveless robe. The robe had a golden fox running up the center and it's tails fanned out curling around the outfit. The fox seemed to look at you out of the corner of its red eye. Naruto actually put on the bandana over his hair to flatten it out and tied it in the back. He had disabled the cloaking jutsu to see how it looked on him. Finally he put on short wooden sandals to finish off the look.

The girls gave nods of approval on the outfit and twitched at the orange bandana but agreed without words that breaking him of his addiction to orange was futile.

Naruto went back into the room and put the kimono onto another rack.

The next twelve outfits, for crimes against fashion in the categories of color, bagginess, tightness, and overall ugliness, were rejected.

The fourteenth outfit was a red trench coat with silver flames on the bottom, black pants with silver bandages wrapped around the bottoms (like Kakashi's), black ninja sandals, a silver flak jacket with black buckles (same style as the one mentioned earlier), and a black shirt underneath. Naruto took off the bandana and his forehead protector and let his hair hang loose. He strapped the forehead protector onto his left calf and walked out.

He was amazed to find out that the girls liked him without his forehead protector on. The girl behind the counter whistled in approval. Ino gave thumbs up and Sakura said it looked great.

After another round of rejects, Naruto found a simple black outfit for training. It had a tight black short sleeve T-Shirt and comfortable pants with an orange stripe up the side. He wore his bandana again to keep his hair out of his eyes. He wore his forehead protector on his bicep.

This time Ino was the one who whistled in approval and said out loud, "Damn Hinata is lucky."

Naruto didn't wait to hear Sakura's comment; he turned around and headed back into the dressing room to put the outfit onto the keeper's rack.

He came out next in a complete black outfit. He wore snug black pants that didn't reflect light, a snug long sleeve shirt that did the same, the black flak that Sakura found, and a black mask over his face. His yellow hair was hidden in a black hooded cloak and he wore black soundproof boots that covered his toes.

" Naruto, we can see your eyes. That is it." Sakura commented deadpan.

"Great! This is the perfect undercover outfit then!" The blond said in reply.

"How many outfits are left?" Ino asked in a bored tone.

"Only a few more. By the way I really like the red pack with black flames." The boy replied.

The next two were duds but the last one…

Ino stood shocked and rooted in the spot.

Sakura gasped and fainted after screaming.

The girl behind the counter had a seizure.

Naruto was wearing a bright green spandex outfit with an orange belt and forehead protector, orange leg warmers, and bright white bandages. His hair was in a bowl cut and his eyebrows were invading his face. He was standing in a pose with blindingly white teeth shining, a hand on his hips and the other out in a giant thumbs up.

All three girls were soon screaming in sheer terror.

Sakura shouted, "They are multiplying!"

Ino shrieked, "My eyes!'

The girl whimpered, "Mommy, please make the bad man go away," as she rocked in a fetal position.

Naruto had burst out laughing after poofing back to his old self. "I can't believe that worked! Gai no Jutsu a success! That is payback for almost killing me before."

Before the girls recovered, Naruto took all of the clothes they asked for and rung himself up at the cash register. He used the stunned girl's ID and paid for everything quickly, went into the changing room, put on the trench coat and black and silver outfit, tied his forehead protector onto his calf once again and headed out.

XXX

After looking around for a weapons shop, Naruto finally found a store called Tenjimaru Weapon Supply. When he walked in, he saw the girl that fought the sand nin, Temari, in the chunin exams, asleep at the counter. He wracked his brains to remember the name and he finally remembered it from the billboard in the preliminaries of the third test; Tenten!

With more confidence, Naruto walked up to the counter. "Excuse me miss, your name is Tenten, right?" The girl woke up with a start.

"Yes, how may I help you? Wait a minute… Do I know you by any chance?"

"You might have seen me at the chunin exams. I was against your teammate in the third exam."

"Oh, right! It is Naruto, correct? I want to personally thank you for helping Neji get his priorities in line. He has been a lot nicer since you kicked his ass! So what do you want to buy?" Tenten looked a lot more cheerful after remembering Naruto.

"May I please purchase five packs of kunai and shiruken, a set of the highest quality weights you own, and two custom katana?"

She looked shocked at the large and very expensive order, but she brought out the items he asked for. The kunai and shiruken were standard but the weights were far form it. Instead of solid metal, there was a scroll that explained 'gravity' seals. The scroll depicted a jutsu that created a field of gravity around the user. They weight increases with two hand signs and releases with a single hand sign.

"I will get my father to help you with the swords. Hold on one second." She went into the back room, which seemed to be a forge. She came back after a minute or two with a taller, heavily muscled man who Naruto assumed to be her father. The man looked at Naruto with respect and the boy knew he wouldn't have any problems dealing with a man who despises him. This man seemed to heed the Yondime's last wish.

"So, you want to have two katana made?"

"Yes, would like a pair of twin swords, one with a silver blade and red miadreba (3) and the other with a red blade and silver miadreba. Getsuei and Ketsueki will be engraved on them respectively. The hilt should be preferably black. Can you make these swords he highest quality you can?"

"Of course. I will be done in four hours. Come back later to pick them up. We will discus the price then." The man nodded his head to Naruto and went into the forge to start his work.

Tenten looked embarrassed. "Sorry about that. My dad isn't that social but he makes great weapons! He can understand exactly what the customer wants after a few sentences. It really is quite amazing."

Naruto nodded his head in appreciation then turned to cheerfulness. "Thank you Tenten-chan. I have to get packing for my mission, see you later!"

The girl looked at the back of the boy leaving the shop and sighed, '_too bad Hinata has dibs.'_

XXX

A very tired Naruto turned down the road to his apartment. He was imagining his bed, soft, fluffy pillow and a nice nap.

Of course reality had a better idea.

Hyuuga Neji was leaned up against the door to the apartment complex, watching Naruto. When the blond came over, Neji walked to him and told the tired boy, "I wish to thank you, Uzumaki Naruto. You have shown me the error of my ways. If reality was governed by fate I would have destroyed you unmercifully. Also, you have shown me that the Main Branch is not all bad, seeing as the heir, Hinata-sama, is against the branch seal. My life is in your debt."

Naruto looked at Neji warily. "You seem to be telling the truth, but I must know, what are you planning to do now?"

Neji replied, "I am going to be the personal trainer and body guard of Hinata-sama. Also as my first job as body guard-"

Neji punched Naruto in the face and made him fly back three feet.

"That is for kissing the clan heiress without consulting with the clan head! You are lucky I owe you a life debt otherwise I would have done far worse than a punch! Oh and before you leave on your mission you had better visit Hinata otherwise your life is in my hands!" the pissed off Hyuuga protégé stormed off to the clan mansion. (4)

"_Lesson learned: do not ignore formalities with the Hyuuga clan." _

"**Amen!" **

Naruto headed into his apartment ready to get some well-deserved sleep. Little did he know he was not getting any rest that evening!

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_**(1) I will attempt to draw these outfits if I can**_

_**(2) Ok I know this is impossible, even in the Narutoverse but bear with me. I need to get outfits that will still fit him after the amount of time that passes in my fic (10 or so years)**_

_**(3) A blade with an irregular pattern. The metal is folded uniquely creating a swirly design on the sharp edge. **_

_**(4) One example of a bit of OOCness in my fic. **_

_**A/N: Chapter Two done finally! I am not sure if the next one will be done before the holidays so Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Have a great Kwanza, Happy Festivus, etc. etc. This extra long chappie is dedicated to the many winter holidays!**_

_**Kyuu**_


	3. Lee, tenji, hinata and one bad fox kit

_**AN: I am so sorry for the late update. I was very sick with an ear infection and my balance was messed up. I couldn't go to school for a week so homework piled up. High School sucks. I am not very proud of this chapter because I was writing with a foggy head. Forgive Me!**_

_**The chapter of the departure! Will Naruto escape Konoha? Why can't Naruto sleep well? Will Neji kill him? What will Hinata do? What will the two chunin, Izumo and Kotetsu, do to the village after Naruto leaves? And where the hell is the Akaatsuki? Why am I asking all these questions anyway? Read ahead to find out! **_

_**XXX**_

"**Bold_" _**Kasai speaking

"_Italic"_Naruto thought speak

'_Italic in single quotes' _Naruto thought

**_Bold italic_**Kyuubi thought

Chapter Three

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey kit, wake up! ... Up and at 'im… Rise and Sine... For fucking sake wake UP!" Naruto heard a familiar, yet somehow different voice shout at him. He only opened his eyes after whom ever it was kicked him in the side.

"Okay. I am up what do you want?" Naruto sat up and got a good look at the person who gave him such a rude awakening.

In front of him was a tall man. He looked about twenty or so years old. His hair was wild and fire red and his eyes were also a deep crimson. The man was wearing a black robe with red trimmings and black pants underneath. Nine red tails with white tips waved behind him, all swaying in synchronization. His face was angular and had four whisker-like markings on each side of it.

"Um who are you and where am I?" Naruto asked, still groggy from his lack of sleep.

_**And here I thought I had a smart human for a container. Oh well, at least it will be easier to train him**._ "Ok, how many tails do you see? Take your time with the answer, this is a hard one." Kasai said sarcastically.

"Ok so you are still the fox-teme, just in a human form, and we are in my head right? Wait a minute, why did you turn the inside of my head into a field with a lake and a waterfall? Also, why is there a desk here and IS THAT ONE OF JIRAIYA'S BOOKS?"

"Like I said this morning, it gets boring in here. Also this is my regular form. Biju have four forms. One is without any animal characteristics; there isn't much use for this one in the demon world besides looking for clothes that are not limited by your features such as a tail or fin. One form has a few demonic features that show your clan, like for me it is the tails and whiskers. Another is almost completely animal but can walk on two legs and is in the basic upright position. Finally, the last form is completely animal, used only for battle or travel. The last form is out default for so if we lost consciousness we turn back to our animal form. That is why I attacked Konoha in that form, technically I was knocked out and controlled by rage."

"Okay, so can you change form any time you want? That is so cool! Will I be able to do that?"

"When we merge on your sixteenth birthday, you will be almost full demon, about seventy five percent. So I assume you will be able to use most of these forms, but I doubt they will look like a normal kitsune's."

Naruto was ecstatic at the idea of turning into a fifty story tall fox. After running around the field a few times Kasai lost his patience and screamed, "I have more to tell you, you energetic little fucker!"

Needless to say, Naruto quickly came back and sat down, "You know Kasai you really should watch your language."

"Okay gaki, I am going to use a jutsu on you that will show if you have any inactive blood limits. I don't have to if you don't want to. The jutsu is very painful but it will allow me to help you master any hidden powers aright?"

"If I can get stronger I will try anything. Do it!" Naruto said, eager at the opportunity for a blood limit.

Kasai's clawed hands flew through hand seals and did the jutsu in three seconds. Naruto suddenly felt as if his whole body was on fire. He dropped to his knees in sheer agony. Kasai watched as the boy's eyes glowed a bright yellow and blue light. His body was giving off a massive amount of brilliant crimson radiance. Getting his answer Kasai quickly cut off the chakra to the jutsu. Naruto gasped to break the pain.

'**_So you are that man's child. I should have known.' _**Kasai mused in his head.

"Ok brat. You have a mixture of two blood limits. You have the Ranpu-Shitai and the Chisokugan. The Ranpu allows you to vibrate your body at extremely high speeds. This alone is not very formidable because the person can't see at such a velocity, but coupled with special targets, the person can transport himself or herself almost instantly to the target. The chisokugan is a doujutsu that allows a person to slow down the world around them enough to make themselves appear to be everywhere at once. This also allows the person to register high speeds, so you can use the Ranpu without a target? Interesting…"

Naruto was once again doing laps for having an awesome kekkei-genkai.

'**_It certainly explains your inhuman stamina and energy.'_**

"_N a r u t o…" _Kasai growled.

The boy froze and obediently walked back to the demon lord. "At your level the most you could use either of these powers is once a month!" Kasai braced himself.

"WHAT? WHY? SASUKE CAN USE THE SHARINGAN FOR HOURS!"

"**_YOUR POWERS ARE MUCH STRONGER THAN SASUKES! IF YOU USE IT MORE THAN THAT, AT YOUR LEVEL, YOU COULD ACCIDENTLY AFFECT THE TIME STREAM!"_**

"Oh. Right. That would be a problem." Naruto said, slightly stunned by the demon's voice.

Kasai rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I am running out of time, you need to wake up soon if you are ever going to meet your appointment with the blacksmith and the Hyuuga you love."

"I NEVER SAID I LOVE HER!"

"I can read your thoughts and memories. Yes you did."

"Shit."

"Which you will be in if you do not wake up **_NOW!"_**

XXX

The demon fox's voice shot Naruto awake. The boy quickly put on his clothes and strolled out of the apartment. "_Fox, Hyuuga or weapon first?"_

"**Weapon. You might need it if Hinata's dad finds out you kissed her."**

"_Heh…Right."_

Naruto walked on the rooftops to avoid traffic. He was jogging along when he heard a voice shout from below.

"Naruto-kun! Where are you going in such a youthful manner?" Lee said cheerfully as he did push-ups on the ground near the hospital entrance. Over the month, he had recovered a bit from Kimimaru but he was still not permitted out of the hospital grounds. He had taken up residence in a small grove of trees on the outskirts of the property near the last row of shops. Naruto admired his determination.

"Hey, Fuzzy Brows, what number are you on?" Naruto asked, using the nickname more out of habit than insult as he hopped down to watch.

"358….359… I will make it to 500 or do 600 sit-ups." Lee says as he continued.

"Heads up Lee, your nurse might stop you again." Naruto said as a medic-nin was walking out of the building looking irritable. "I have an appointment with your teammate's dad about two swords. I have to go. Good luck with recovery. By the way, do me a favor and make sure Neji and Tenten get together for me. Neji needs a girlfriend to keep the stick from returning up his ass and Tenten has a major crush on him. It would be extremely…youthful of you." Naruto shouted as he leaped back onto the building and sprinted to make up for lost time. He cringed later for using the catch phrase of the duo.

"I will do it for you Naruto! YOSH!" Lee said as he jumped up and did the Nice Guy Pose. He then cursed himself for losing track of pushups. As his new training method, he ran laps to avoid his nurse who was trying to get him back in bed.

'_That guy will never change.' _Naruto thought as he headed to the weapon store.

XXX

Naruto entered the shop and walked up to the counter. No one was there so he rang the bell that was sitting on the desk. After four minutes Naruto called to the forge, "Excuse me! I am here to pick up my katana!"

Tenjimaru walked out of the forge holding a blade wrapped in a tough cloth. He placed it in from of Naruto and stepped back to watch.

The blond carefully unwrapped the bundle to see one beautifully decorated scabbard with foxes all over it. 'One sword?' He thought. He looked at the man questioningly.

Tenjimaru urged him to draw the blade. Naruto grabbed the beautiful black hilt to find it was split in the middle. When he drew it, two blades were formed from the one sword, the right one was red, almost the color of blood, with an edge that seemed to cut through it in swirls and hooks of silver. The left was the opposite, made of the same silver as the other blade's edge. The edge was also swirled into the metal but a blood red. The two blades were light and easy to maneuver. Backing up, Naruto swung them with ease, but he was very sloppy. The blades almost clashed together.

"Use these blades simultaneously. They are the same sword, made from the same metals. Allow them to flow with your arms and work in unison, not against each other. These blades are difficult to master, so you should find a kenjutsu specialist." Tenji said to the boy as he struggled. "I used a jutsu on them to let them grow as you do. They will get heavier as you get older and stronger. They will still stay balanced if you practice with them every day. I put a lot of work into those blades. If you break them, I will _break you!_" He added menacingly, and it nearly scared the shit out of Naruto.

"H-hai Tenjimaru-sama. I won't break these swords."

"You had better not. Oh and why aren't you wearing those weights you bought? Put them on as soon as possible! You will not be able to adjust to the setting if you do not wear them immediately. It increases every six hours after purchase so unless you want two hundred pound weights the first time you put them on I suggest you wear them!" Tenjimaru's voice was annoyed at the fact that the boy spent that much money on something that was going to waste. '_You act exactly like my old teammate, Arashi. Three parts genius, two parts idiot, one part ramen, and not a bit of common sense in him. Good luck.' _The man chuckled in his head.

Naruto nodded and waved a goodbye to the shop owner. He headed out and quickly went to his apartment to find the weights.

XXX

After putting on 45 pounds of force on his body, he tried to run to the Hyuuga mansion, only to struggle to move his leg. He took a few practice steps and tried to adjust. After ten minutes of walking in circles, he got the hang of it and headed out.

He headed into the more expensive section of Konoha and to the Hyuuga Complex. A large gate guarded the entrance. As expected, when he asked if he could see Hinata at the gate, two branch members threw him off the premises. " Don't come back Bakemono!"

"_Well, that didn't work. Kasai, you have any ideas?"_

"**Try hopping the fence?"**

"_In these weights?"_

"**Good point. Try a summon messenger. How about that frog who likes candy? Tell him to get Hinata to meet you. Actually better yet come into your head. I will give you my summon."**

XXX

"Okay fox where do I sign." Naruto said as he walked across the field.

Kasai had already retrieved the scroll from a medium size fox with three tails when Naruto appeared. He unrolled the scroll to allow Naruto to sign.

"Wait fox, will I still be able to summon frogs?"

"Yes, you can still summon those slimy creatures. Any summoned demon will have the oxygen breathing jutsu on them, by the way. I added that function to the scroll before you got here. Anyway, Demon summon contracts are different from beast ones. However, if there is a biju that corresponds to the beast, they have to obey the biju. For instance Orohime is the leader of all snakes and serpents so she is the head of two summon scrolls, one for demon serpents, where she is the highest summonable creature, and one for normal snakes, where her younger cousin Manda is the boss. I believe the creepy pedophile has ownership of that scroll for now. However, Orohime can evict any summoner of the snake scroll, but Manda and her have not contacted each other since she ran away. If we can convince her to talk to Manda, we may be able to take away Orochimaru's power to summon."

"Nice idea fox. But, back on task, how do I sign?"

"Write your name in blood in the new column like your other contract, to represent human blood, but then draw a spiral with your blood to show you are also a demon kitsune. This allows the clan to know of my sealed situation. Don't worry, it is 99 likely that they will accept you as a member of the family."

"The other 1?"

"They kill you to unseal me, BUT that is highly unlikely because they would be killing their last hope to stop the war."

Naruto gulped. He slowly bit his thumb and signed in blood before he backed out.

With a small wave to Kasai, he went back into the real world to try to summon a small fox to carry the message.

XXX

Naruto bit his thumb and did the handsigns. When the dust cleared, an adorable one tailed fox, about the size of a puppy was sitting at his feet.

It opened its mouth and yawned at Naruto. With a cute voice, slightly squeaky the kit said, "Hi, new summoner. My name is Loki. Welcome to the kitsune clan! How may I serve you?"

Naruto kneeled down and pet the kit. "Hi I'm Naruto. I have Kasai, the Kyuubi, sealed inside me, not by choice I might add. When you go back to the demon realm can you tell the fox who is in charge?"

"Of course Naruto-san. Is there anything else you need?"

"Yea, for one just call me Naruto. Also I need you to find a girl named Hyuuga Hinata. She is inside this building and I am not allowed inside because most humans hate me. Can you please tell her to meet me here? I want to say goodbye before I head out on my mission. She has blue hair, is kind of shy, and has pure white eyes. She wears a big floppy coat a lot. Also, what ever you do, do not be seen. The humans inside can see 180 degrees because of a special power. Can you use a demon cloaking technique or something?"

"Course Naruto, we kitsune are masters of pranks and disguise! I will get your girlfriend for you!" The little fox laughed at the boy's face at the girlfriend comment. The kit quickly disappeared in thin air using a jutsu before Naruto could object.

Once he got over his shock, he sighed in relief at the acceptance of one clan member on his side. Naruto collapsed onto the neatly trimmed lawn and watched the clouds until Hinata came.

"_Hey fox, mission accomplished. I sent a kit named Loki into the house to find Hinata."_

"**YOU SENT LOKI!"**

"_What's wrong with Loki? How could he do anything? He would be three in human years, I would guess. "_

"**THAT LITTLE KIT IS THE YOUNGEST MASTER PRANKSTER IN THE ENTIRE DEMON REALM!"**

"_Oh no. And I told him the humans hated me. Do you think he will do anything to them?"_

"**I really wouldn't want to be a Hyuuga right now."**

XXX

_**Inside the Hyuuga Mansion**_

Inside, Loki was calculating the first of his pranks. He climbed the wall easily and hopped down into a lawn that surrounded the compound. The place was swarmed with branch members. '**Ok, no blue haired females in sight. One demon dung bomb with extra cloaking coming up! _Ultimate Stink no jutsu!' _**he thought as he moved to the center of the lawn. He completed the jutsu and ran away fast.

The reaction was instant. Hyuugas evacuated the area. The ones who were closest were knocked out from the sheer power of the stink. The others were holding their eyes in pain. The smell was so bad it was burning their sensitive eyes. The smell was designed to stick to the clothes of the victims and it was spreading to a large area.

Nearby a small fox was laughing his tail off. '**ok that was fun, now back on task, where is that girl?' **

After searching the entire branch quarters and laying traps along the way, the kit moved on to the main house. After an hour of prank- I mean… searching the vast area, he finally stumbled onto Hinata's room. It was a basic white room with a small futon and a desk. The girl was busy painting at her desk.

Loki undid the jutsu and cleared his throat politely**. "Excuse me miss, are you Hinata-sama?"**

Hinata turned around at the squeaky voice. "Yes I a- KAWAI!"

Loki quickly braced himself, as he was glomped. "YOU ARE SO CUTE!" Hinata said loudly as she hugged the poor creature.

"**aH! MiSs HiNatA I CaN't BReaTh**!" he said as he was choked. His tail was puffing up in agitation.

"Oh sorry kitsune-kun."

The fox took a few gasps to get his breath back. "**That _cough _is alright. I _wheeze _get that a lot. My master, Naruto-san requests you meet him outside the premises. He couldn't get in because of the guards. They seem to dislike him."**

Hinata looked annoyed. "I should tell them to let him in later. There are some perks to being the heiress."

"**Are you sure you are Hinata-chan? Master said you were shy!"**

Hinata blushed. "I am getting better! The other Hyuugas always pushed me around; I had to act a bit stricter if I was to receive any respect. I am still shy around my father though. Anyway I have to punish the guards for not letting my Naruto-kun in."

"**Do not worry about it. I took care of it as soon as I got in. My name as Loki, the prankster extraordinaire, by the way. I should probably lead you out of here to avoid my other pranks**." Before Hinata could object, Loki hopped on her shoulder and transported her outside to where Naruto was waiting.

XXX

Naruto saw a small plume of green kitsune-bi and sat up from his cloud watching. A shocked Hinata walked out of the fire transport with a grinning fox kit on her shoulder.

"Ohayo Hinata-chan! Loki, what did you do to the poor Hyuugas, dare I ask? I should really discipline you for not telling me you are a prankster. Next time you go on a pranking spree, ask me first. I want a full explanation by the way. I will let it slide this time because the Hyuugas need to lighten up, No offense Hinata-chan."

"N-none taken. Naruto-k-kun" Hinata stuttered as her face lit up with a bright red blush.

Loki stared at the fast transformation of the girl he was riding on. One minute she was going to assert her control over some rude guards, and the next minute, she turned into a stuttering fan-girl.

He hopped down and stated his case. "Those humans inside were all so boring. All the rooms were white and plain, they all dressed the same way, most of them didn't talk at all, the ones who did were monotone. They _needed_ some excitement in their lives! Now, by my calculations, it will take six months to find all the traps and pranks I placed! I skipped Hinata-san's room at least!"

Naruto sighed, "What kind of pranks?"

"**The basics, stink bombs, water buckets, trip wires releasing chicken feathers and syrup, hot foots, annoying music that wont stop, high traffic areas have automatic pant removal jutsus on them, all their clothes have different funny patterns on them like orange polka dots and neon green stripes, the main council room has permanent whoopee cushion jutsus on the seats that can only be removed by a real fart, oh and the bathrooms all have clear gel filled toilets so when they go to the bathroom it bounces off, and the windows have different pictures on them from scantily clad women and men to a swarm of bees to many others, the doors have ultra clear panes of glass in them, every bath is filled with freezing water, the sprinkler system is timed to go off at random intervals, the kitchen has a fine coat of a mix of the worst tasting spray imaginable, and there is a swarm of mice, garter snakes, and frogs due to go off in…three…two…one."**

A large mass of screams filled the air and small fox was looking very smug.

Hinata and Naruto were speechless. Naruto snapped out of it first and started applauding the kit. Hinata slapped him on the back of the head in a very out of character manner. "Don't encourage him!"

She the realized who she slapped and started stuttering out an apology. Naruto laughed, "You know, I think I deserved that. Why don't you act like that more often Hina-chan?"

Hinata blushed at the nickname. Naruto looked the fox then said, "Okay Loki you can go now. I don't want you to make more trouble."

The fox obeyed the blonde and poofed away. Naruto looked at Hinata who was blushing and said, "You know, Hinata, I kind of prefer you shy. You look cute when you blush."

Hinata turned even redder. 'Naruto-kun thinks I am cute?' she passed out at the thought. Naruto caught her before she fell.

"I am sorry Hinata, did I offend you? Are you okay!" Naruto panicked

"_Kasai! How do I wake her up?"_

"**She thinks you rejected her! Kiss her on the lips!" **he responded urgently.

Naruto, not being the sharpest kunai in the pouch, did so immediately. Carefully, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Hinata had awoken to the feel of soft lips on hers. '_Oh kami, is this a dream?_' she refused to open her eyes to ruin the moment.

When he pulled back the boy said, "I am sorry Hinata. Please wake up."

Hesitantly, the girl obeyed and looked into her love's cerulean eyes. They were full of adoration and affection, with a hint of concern. She closed her eyes and captured his lips in hers again. When the kiss ended Naruto refused to stop gazing on Hinata's beautiful face.

"Hinata… If you keep kissing me like that, I fear I might not have the courage to leave. You have no idea how long I have admired you, but if I don't leave Konoha, the council will kill me. Can you wait for me?"

"Naruto, I have always waited for you and I always will. I understand that you have to leave me and I will never stop you. Your life is more important than my selfish desire. My only request is that you contact me with news that you are alive. Please, once you are strong enough to stop this war with the sound and prove to Konoha that you are worthy, please come back to me. Promise me?"

Naruto kissed her once again. "I promise."

XXXXXXXXXXX

_**AN: sorry for the short chapter, I wanted to get this scene out. FLUFF! **_

_**Here is your Christmas present!**_


	4. Nejis day, sharks and pocky, scrolls

_**AN: sorry I never got to the departure like I said I would. It happens in this chapter I promise. I added a bit of a gift on the beginning of the chapter to apologize. Also I realized after a tipoff from a friend that I forgot to explain where Tsunade is during this whole mess. She is on a kage only mission to Kiri to negotiate an alliance. She unknowingly left the council of elders in charge of the village.**_

_**XXXXXXXXXXX**_

Neji was having the worst two days of his life. First, Tenten forced him to thank Naruto for, as she put it, 'making him see the light.' Then he saw his cousin unconscious in the middle of a forest and had to get her home before someone else found her. Then he had to sneak her into the mansion without Hiashi seeing them. Hinata told him when she woke up that Naruto kissed her and then she made him promise not to kill him.

When he got back from training a few hours later he was hit by a massive stink bomb that irritated his eyes and made them a light pink color. To ad insult to injury, when he tried to get to his room feathers and syrup were dumped on him and he tripped over something fuzzy that he couldn't see. Then he passed out from blood loss from looking in a window! He tried to go to bed and fall asleep but rats invaded his bed!

Completely annoyed he tried to take a bath to relax but it was ice cold and he jumped so high that he fell out of the bathroom completely naked. At this point two female fan girls were visiting a friend and were walking in the hallway. They took pictures of nude Neji to post on the Internet. Now he was pissed off.

He put on clothes and tried to take a walk outside. He walked straight into a pane of glass in the door and after he broke it, he saw Hinata and Naruto kissing passionately in the garden outside the walls of the mansion. Completely disgusted, he found a small closet that was not pranked and slept in there, paranoid to walk outside.

In the morning, when he went for breakfast, the food tasted horrible. The females in the main dinning hall, the ones he was not really related to, were looking at the pictures of him and tried to maul him when he came in.

After escaping the mansion, and having a bucket of water dropped on his head from the roof, he tried to meet his team in the normal training area.

His teammates were nowhere to be found. As he walked into the center of the area, he fell into a pitfall. He landed hard on solid rock. A few seconds later, Tenten fell on top of him. The walls of the pit were too steep to climb and the pit was too deep to jump.

"Who the hell would try to trap us in a pit?" Tenten said annoyed, "They put a giant magnet in the top too! It stole the few weapons I brought and I forgot my scrolls at home.

Neji checked his pockets, "It took my kunai too. I could use a kaiten to blast myself out of here but it would hurt you. At least there are no spikes in the pit. I guess we are stuck. Fate has cursed me this day."

Tenten glared at him. "You dislike me so much that you say that you were cursed to be near me?"

Neji started to sweat; his 'this is a bad question' sense was going off. "No! I mean yes… I mean not at all...I mean, shit, why do girls ask those types of questions!"

Tenten watched Neji out of the corner of her eye and smiled at his antics. "We are going to be here for a while. At least Lee hasn't gotten caught yet. I don't think I could stand being trapped with him for who knows how long." She sat down on a rock. Neji followed her example.

"So… what are we going to do until someone finds us?" he asked monotone.

"Well, how was your day?" Tenten offered as a conversation topic.

"Horrible. First I was almost poisoned by my food, then I…" he continued his story of his horrible night and day. The two kept talking for two hours almost nonstop. Tenten blamed Neji's well-hidden claustrophobia for his talkative mood.

Meanwhile, outside the hole, in a tree, Lee and Gai were watching them interact with interest. "See sensei? I told you that the pit would work! If they keep talking like this maybe they will ask each other out and I can fulfill my promise to Naruto-kun!" Lee said in a whisper, doing the nice guy pose.

"You are correct my youthful student! However I am curious, how are we going to get them out without giving away the fact that we made the trap?"

Lee looked at Gai in confusion then horror. "I had not thought of that."

Tenten and Neji would be trapped for a while

XXXXX

Naruto woke up to find his head suspiciously warm. He reached up to find that he now had a fox kit sitting on top of his head and pillow, snoozing away.

"Loki? What are you doing on my head?"

The kit yawned and stretched out. "**I _was _sleeping until you woke me up."**

"I could see that, but I meant, WHY are you sleeping on my head?"

"**Because it is nice and soft. Kind of like a shag rug. Also you are warm."**

Naruto resisted the urge to slap his forehead.

"How did you get in?"

"**Through the door. You are so funny Naruto-san!"**

SLAP

XXX

After another round of questions and a headache, Loki finally explained that demon summons could appear at will to the summoner if they feel that he or she is in trouble.

"Why did you think I was in trouble?"

"Because I wasn't there of course! Also it is more fun in your world. No one knows who I am and they cant possibly stop me from pranking all of them."

"So you are going to roam around my world pranking everyone?" Naruto said with dread.

"Of course not! I am sticking to you like glue! If you need protection or assistance in anyway, I am your fox! Also I run on pure sugar and get one mile per cube!"

"Fine…as long as you don't prank me or anyone I deem unprankable. Got it?" Naruto caved in.

"Sure boss!"

Naruto got dressed and put on his travel pack, with a fox kit wrapped around his waist like a sash. He hopped out the window to the street below. When he got to the mission prep room he picked up his folder that was laying out for him. '_Looks like Izumo and Kotetsu are on a coffee break. Oh well_.'

XXX

Meanwhile, outside on the hokage mountain, "Kotetsu you idiot, if you put that rocket there it will explode immediately! Put it next to the blue one!"

"But I wanted to make a big orange explosion next to the yellow sunburst!"

"No the color contrast of the blue and the orange would look much better! It stands out in the sunlight!"

"But the symbolism of yellow and orange matches his outfit next to his hair!"

"It doesn't matter anymore, a konoichi told me he got a better red outfit. If you want the symbolism put the yellow burst next to the red spiral."

The two chunin were placing giant fireworks everywhere on the mountain, easily seen by Konoha. Their accomplices, Konohamaru, Mogei and Udon, were painting the entire hokage monument in orange with the words "Good Luck Naruto, KMU, Ko, and Iz" in blue. On the rest of the mountain were insults and doodles sketched on the faces. The entire surrounding area was covered in exploding tags and other traps to make sure no one would be able to stop the band of pranksters.

After much hard work, the chunins received the signal that Naruto took the mission folder. They managed to pay the Tokubetsu Jonin, Aoba, to give them a signal when he got the mission info, then to signal again by sending a crow to show when he left the building.

After a few seconds wait the crow was sent, and the fuse was lit. The chunin and genin raced out of the area and took cover.

XXX

Naruto jumped into the air as a huge round of explosions rocked the area. He whipped his head around to marvel at the giant set of blue, orange, yellow, and red fireworks that came from the brightly decorated Hokage monument. He smiled and laughed at the sight. Loki hopped to Naruto's shoulders and watched. "**Nice execution and timing, quite visible from any perspective, noticeable and obnoxious, good message, and serves its purpose. An excellent prank, even though it is done by amateurs."**

"Amateurs? Konohamaru, Mogei, and Udon have been doing pranks ever since they started worshiping me, and Kotetsu and Izumo have done pranks quite often."

The fox scoffed, "**The only real prank masters are kitsune. Everything else is just a knockoff!"**

"I didn't know foxes had egos, too! I thought it was just a human thing!" Naruto laughed.

"**Watch it, I have claws and a direct shot at your jugular."**

"Yeah yeah. Then you lose your ticket into the human realm." Naruto chuckled.

The fox snorted but stayed silent.

"Anyway, we should get going before the council sends hunter nins after me for putting off doing a mission." Naruto said after the fireworks ended.

The fox had once again fallen asleep around his waist. Chuckling softly, Naruto headed for the gate. He passed Kakashi, who was on his way to the bookstore for a certain orange book. The jonin didn't notice him so Naruto kept moving to the gate. '_What's the use saying goodbye to him? He didn't teach me anything except how to climb a tree and find a cat. He didn't even bother helping me out for the third exam either. He just went to teach Sasuke. The man preaches about the importance of teamwork and then goes and pays favorites! Damn hypocrite.' _Naruto thought in annoyance.

When he got to the gate, Naruto waved merrily to Genma and headed out into the woods. Along the way Naruto passed the time talking to Loki about his past.

XXX

On top of atree in the woods, very close to Naruto, two dark figures were watching to find the boy.

"Itachi, why did we have to stop for pocky along the way, _again?_ You have six packages of the stuff why do you need more? You made us late for the meeting." Kisame said in annoyance.

"Pocky is more important than being early, now shut up, I hear the boy." Itachi said while sucking on three Strawberry flavored sticks. The entire scene was very funny to Kisame, but his partner would kill him for laughing at his junk food obsession.

Many have died from making fun of the Weasel's pocky fetish.

XXX

Loki sat upright on Naruto's shoulder. "**Boss? Are we near any oceans or candy stores?"**

"I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"**Because I smell shark and strawberry frosting."**

"I don't know about the strawberry frosting, but this guy I ran into a while back looked a lot like a shark. He and Sasuke's brother, Minku (1) or something like that were chasing me because they were from some weird cult after Kyuubi."

XXX

Above, Kisame was trying not to burst out laughing at Itachi for being called a mink. Itachi's eyes turned into the Mangekyo Sharingan in his rage.

"HAAHAHAAA, MINKU!" Kisame explodes in laughter.

"Kisame shut up! He will hear you!"

"Sorry…Minku!"

Naruto watched the scene from below and sweat dropped. '_These guys are the powerful Akatsuki? I highly doubt I am in mortal danger if these guys are elite missing nins_.'

Kasai watched in amusement '**Hey Kit, can I have some fun? I want to exercise my pranking muscle.'**

'_Sure. Let me warn Loki.'_

"Loki, Kasai is going to take over for a bit of pranking. Stand back" Naruto whispered so that the Akatsuki couldn't hear.

The fox kit nodded and hopped off. As soon as he did, the boy fell over onto his knees. His stomach started to glow and his skin started to bubble and bulge. He screamed and his eyes rolled back into his head. The boy's mouth was forced open by a claw. Soon the jaw popped open and a paw stuck out of it. His skull cracked and exploded as a pair of forelegs came out. The rest of the boy's body also exploded as she head of a giant fox soon appeared followed by a body, back legs, and nine tails. The blood red beast towered over the treetops and howled.

"_Nice genjutsu Kasai! It really looked like you exploded out of me instead of us just transforming!" _Naruto said inside the field of the subconscious. "_If that didn't freak out those guys, I don't know what will!"_

'**keep watching I am making this good!' **Kasai responded.

"**HUMANS! HOW DARE YOU ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE ME!" **The giant fox roared at the two figures on top of the trees. It leaned down to get a better look.

Itachi didn't look in the least bit afraid. The only evidence of his shock was that a single stick of pocky fell out of his mouth, and for an addict like him, that was enough. His Sharingan were spinning, attempting to lull the Kyuubi to sleep. Kisame was unwrapping his sword and held it in front of him as protection.

"**Pathetic human! How dare you use such a pointless parlor trick to trick me! Lord of all biju! I tried to spare you by letting you escape before in the hotel, but you insult me by attacking me again! How dare you reject my mercy! And you, Same-wannabe, you dare try to steal my chakra with that puny butter knife? My fellow demons gave you that sword as a gift ages ago when we had relations with humankind, and you dare turn it against us? When I find Kiriame your life will be forfeit! Go back to your leader and tell him the Kyuubi refuses to be a part of his plan and that I am coming for him! His life is in my claws!" **

Kisame swung Samehada at Kyuubi's paw to try to injure it. The paw barely twitched and the sword was repelled. One of the nine tails reached down and wrapped around the blade, the fur preventing the skin from shaving. It pulled the sword up and also carried Kisame with it. The tail brought the missing nin in front of Kyuubi's nose.

"**You dare refuse my order?" **the fox's voice was cold and menacing.

Kisame's survival skills kicked in and he let go of the sword a second before the fox snapped its jaws in the place where he was a second earlier. Kisame landed on a treetop and quickly did a water summoning jutsu. The area became a small lake. He sent a giant water shark at the fox.

"**Thank you human. I needed to practice my Suiton jutsus." **Kasai shot back a water geyser at the shark and destroyed it and also knocked out Kisame. Itachi sent an Amaterasu to the fox's head to try to blind it but Kyuubi just blew it out with a Fuuiton blast. Soon after, Kasai got tired of playing with them and stepped on Itachi, effectively knocking him out. The fox transformed back into Naruto and gave up control.

"_Ok fox, how did you do that? You pushed those guys around like they were nothing!" _

"**Well, for one, I used up almost all of my chakra that was leftover from healing you. Two, the Weasel was not trying very hard for some reason. He could have attacked me with fire at least ten opportunities in our battle and successfully hit me. For some reason he lacked the evil aurora that Orochimaru had. He seemed more… unwilling to fight me. Almost like he didn't want to attack. Kisame had a similar attitude. They felt almost forced to attack. I will figure it out later but right now we had better get out of here. If those two wake up I cant stop them again or bluff my way out."**

"Loki, Kasai says we have to move, come on!"

The fox kit looked on in awe "**Wow. I didn't know the great lord Kyuubi was such an awesome prankster. PLEASE SENSEI, ALLOW ME TO BECOME YOUR MOST HUMBLE APPRENTICE!" **he said as he did the fox version of a bow. The resemblance to Lee was uncanny.

Naruto laughed and relayed, "Kasai says alright, but only if you lay traps behind us to ward off hunter nins. It is good practice. If you are creative enough he will teach you."

Loki yipped happily and ran into the woods.

Naruto laughed and started on his way to the borders of Fire Country. "_Hey Kasai, by the way, where to?"_

"**We have to find the biju and bring them to the demon realm. Most of them are sealed like us, but I sense four that are not captured. Kooritawa, my best friend, is somewhere in the Rock. We should go to him first, he seems to be the farthest away. Also, he is a master with two blades, so he can teach you a bit of kenjutsu. If he trusts you, he will ask to be your guard. Don't ask, it is just a tradition that we demons use. Basically all it means is that he will take you as his leader. **

"**After Koori, we should meet up with Haomaru and Denkou. They also are not sealed and seem to be in the same place and they both acted like brothers in the demon realm. We should probably find Shintateru, next, to find all of the unsealed demons and to get the hardest part over with. After that we can find Shintsume and her jailor, then go to your friend Gaara, then Orohime, and finally Kiriame. Orohime and Kiriame are going to be the hardest to get on your side. Kiriame has a nasty temper and Orohime doesn't trust easily. The entire mission should last at least ten years, not including the war itself. "**

"_Promise me you will help me save Konoha after I save your dimension?"_

"**If it is still standing after ten years, of course."**

"_On to Iwakagure then."_

_XXX_

"So Minku, what the hell are we going to tell the leader?"

"Does it matter? He has seen it all anyway, right Zetsu-san?"

A large Venus flytrap arose out of the soil. "_That is correct Itachi-san. Leader-sama is not pleased."_ The white half of the man's face said. (2)

"How many years am I up to?" (3)

"**Twenty-seven more years." **The black half said.

"_Kisame-san, you have thirty-three." _

The two partners cursed simultaneously. Kisame turned to the plant-human. "How many years do you have left?"

"**_Eleven" _**both sides said almost cheerfully.

"Who has the most?"

"_Deidara-san is up to fifty eight. I highly doubt he will live that long! There is Orochimaru, who still holds the record of eighty-nine, but he managed to run away to escape servitude. Leader-sama thinks that the Oto war against Konoha is amusing so he doesn't kill the snake yet."_

"The snake still thinks that immortality will let him escape from his fate?" Kisame asked in disbelief, "Then he is even stupider than we thought. Hell, Hidan still has to follow orders and he can get his head cut of and still complain!"

"**Hidan only has fifteen years because he is new. Wait until he fails a few missions and see how his body holds out against the ring!" **the black head muttered darkly.

"By the way, has Tobi finally told you what he wants to attempt to become a member?" Itachi asked the plant curiously.

"**He wants the Leader to help him destroy his village. The weakling can't even kill his kage, and the village is so small, I would be amazed if it had six ninja! I dislike the idea of him joining."**

"_I don't know, Tobi is a good boy, he has done enough missions, he just cant get a ring because every spot is filled. Chances are he will complete his years without any additions. He obeys orders very well."_

"Well, the Leader has the final say in the matter. We will see what happens," Itachi said to avoid conflict between the two halves.

"_Leader-sama tells me that we will abort chasing after the Kyuubi for now. Now that he has escaped from his seal_**the leader doubts we can transport him in a temporary one**_. We will go after him once we find the others but it is too soon to attempt to capture anything**. He wants us to report back to base now to recruit more missing nins."**_

Zetsu went into the ground and transported away.

"Hey Minku, I wonder if Zetsu knows how disturbing the voice switching is." Kisame asked Itachi, still grinning at the new nickname.

"If you value your life, never call me that again. And yes he probably does it to freak you out. " Itachi said as he put another stick of orange pocky in his mouth.

Kisame sighed. "You're not fun anymore!"

Itachi looked back perplexed. "Was I ever 'fun'?"

The sharkman pondered for a second. "Good point!"

Itachi sighed at the complete idiot he was paired up with and simply walked away.

XXX

After a month of negotiations, Kirigakure decided to ally with Konoha. Tsunade, tired and worried, slowly made her way into the gates of Konoha, a minor festival to celebrate her arrival greeted her. She was two days to late, and unknowingly missed seeing Naruto.

She made it to her office and was amazed at the huge stack of paperwork that took over the room. Sighing she plopped down into her chair and grabbed the nearest pen and scroll. After a bit of signing, she found a bright orange scroll with a red swirl on it. The note brought her to tears.

_Dear Oba-chan,_

_I am sorry that I couldn't say goodbye in person. While you were away the Council took over all missions and military power and sent me on eight S-rank missions. Think they were trying to get rid of me? I barely survived the missions and that was only because of Kasai, or as you humans call him, Kyuubi. He saved me at least twice on each mission._

_Apparently, demons are not that ferocious in real life. Something in the air makes them go insane but they are perfectly civilized in their own realm. Because Kasai was sealed inside me, I am now considered part demon! Imagine that! The council was kind of right! In order to save ourselves from death (they want us to kill the diamyo of Rain) we decided to run away to find the other biju. I am apparently going to become a sort of peacemaker in the demon realm._

_I will be back in about ten or twenty years, can you hold out against Orochi-teme until then? The demons promise to help out once they achieve peace. _

_With love and Ramen,_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Future Kage of some village_

_Apparently Nine Tailed Fox_

_PS. Please do not send the hunter nins after me._

_PSS. Kyuubi says, "Hi, Sorry for attacking the village. I wasn't myself."_

_PSSS. Write to me using the summon in the second scroll._

Tsunade picked up the second orange scroll after she finished crying and opened it to find a medium size fox with two tails sitting on her desk.

"**Do you wish to send a scroll to Naruto-sama?"**

The woman immediately started writing. "Give me a second. I have a lot of questions."

The demon fox nodded and hopped down from the desk onto a large cushioned chair in the corner of the room and fell asleep. "**Wake me up when you need me."**

Tsunade was scribbling away on the scroll and then when she had finished she summoned the council members and Ibiki. The elders were not going to get away with breaking the Sandiame's law and trying to kill her little brother. She hopped Ibiki wasn't too out of practice for a bit of a workout!

_XXXXXXXXXX_XXXXXXXX

_**Minku I think means mink in Japanese, or at least that is what the online translator tells me. I was trying to make a really bad pun by calling Itachi (weasel) a mink.**_

_**Italics when Zetsu is talking is the white half, bold is the black.**_

_**I like Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara too much to kill them all when I defeat the Akatsuki so I have a small plan to get them to join forces with Naruto. If you can figure out all of the clues I left in this speech, please guess what I am talking about.**_

_**Done with this chapter. The next one should be Naruto in Iwakagure and the genin of Konoha trying to figure out why Naruto is hated so much. Hint: Hinata Neji and Shino already know the reason!**_


	5. Tsunade,Nejiten,shopping,Iwa,Shino

_**SORRY I FORGOT THE NUMBERS!!!!!**_

_**Sorry I have not updated in a while. I am studying for my midterms. This chapter is mostly Naruto traveling while he tries to guess what Kasai did to him while he slept (you will see). Neji and Tenten's predicament (in which Neji is slightly OOC, sorry), the small group of pranksters, and a bit of violent council punishment. Also, a minishot that kind of furthers the plot, Itachi grocery shopping.**_

_**XXXXXXX**_

_**Chapter 5**_

"**Bold" **Kyuubi /demonic voice

"_Italic_" Naruto thought speak

'_Italic single quotes' _thinking

XXXXXXXX

Tsunade sighed as she put down the scroll to Naruto. There were too many things she wanted to say. For instance how she had punished the council of elders. She first terminated it entirely for breaking the Third's law, then allowing Ibiki to take over. He used everything from kunai, thumbscrews, pop songs so annoying they made your ears bleed (all sung by the most tone deaf chunins in the leaf, Kotetsu and Izumo, both who were happy to help), D rank missions (Tsunade didn't want to pay genin for the most horrible jobs like crap duty at the Inuzukas), starvation while holding a steak five feet from their faces, dunking their heads in water then up and back down before they could breath enough, and finally a slow death by poison gas.

She was a bit surprised at how well Ibiki took care of them. Apparently he gained enough respect for Naruto after he survived so much torture in the S-Rank missions. He also had immediately liked the boy after the first part of the test, when he answered question ten correctly.

She also wanted him to come back now that he would be sure to survive without fear of the council, but she knew that was impossible. The clan council was still intact, and they would probably hate Naruto too. Also the boy told her in the letter, he wouldn't be accepted in Konoha .

Also Tsunade knew he would refuse to abandon his promise to the Kyuubi, even if he is a demon. It just wouldn't be like Naruto to give up any of his vows.

The Hokage sighed. The boy's destiny was going to be a great one. He refused to leave her necklace behind, proving that he still wished to be a kage. '_Who knows, maybe one day he will be.'_

XXX

The moon shone brightly over a small pit inside a training area in Konoha. Almost taunting the two trapped figures by showing how late it was.

"Ok Tenten, My list of hate has fate, pranks, fan girls, hairdryers (don't ask), and now pitfalls." Neji groaned for the fifth time that hour. He had become more talkative over the past few hours. Apparently the life of a Hyuuga prodigy was not that pleasant and so the boy needed a good rant.

"You will have to explain the hairdryer part to me later, I bet there is an interesting story behind that." Tenten laughed. She was reclined against the boy with her head resting against his shoulder. The pit was too small for them both to keep their personal space and it was getting cold.

"You know Tenten… I have never seen you without your buns in. What does your hair look like down?" Neji asked on a whim.

Tenten looked panicked. She jumped up and tried to back away. "I hate my hair! It looks really bad down! Its too long and I hate it! I swear!"

Neji smirked, getting more curious. His pale eyes studied the girl. Inside his head something shouted at him to remember that he is a Hyuuga, but then Neji's inner emotions, something that had been growing ever since Naruto kicked his ass, knocked it out cold.

Neji stood up and walked toward the girl. "I am going to find out sooner or later. Which one do you prefer?" He said taking another step forward.

Tenten took a step back. "You wouldn't dare…"

Neji lunged and made a grab for the hair tie. Tenten dodged to the left but one of the buns got pulled out in the flurry of hands. Her hair reached down to her shoulders. Neji smirked at the sight of Tenten in one bun. "Come on now… It looks silly without the other one down!"

Tenten sighed in defeat and let the other bun drop. She brushed it out with her fingers to give it a nicer part.

Neji looked on at the image and gaped. Tenten's hair floated down around her shoulders in chestnut colored waves. The hair framed her face, covering up part of her left eye. He thought, '_she looks even more beautiful than before_.' Then he realized what he just thought and he mentally hit himself, '_teammate. She is my teammate. I cant like my teammate. I am a Hyuuga and I cant like my teammate. Damn it, you idiot you cant like your teammate!'_

Tenten flicked her hair back and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Well? What do you think?"

Neji started to sweat. _'Shit… I friggen like my teammate.'_

XXX

"Rope ladder?" Lee suggested.

"No Neji could see us with the Byakugan. How about we hire someone else to free them?" Gai tried

"No, we should not endanger innocent civilians in the dangerous youthful flames of our teammates."

"They have been in there for almost seven hours. I hope they have agreed that they like each other in their own youthful way."

XXX

"If my hair is that bad that you cant say anything, then I will never wear it down again." Tenten said in a hurt voice. Her eyes started to shine with unshed tears.

'_Oh double shit… I made her cry. How the hell am I going to fix this?'_

"No that isn't it Tenten! You look beautiful with your hair down! I love it! You should wear it like that more often!" Neji said to cheer her up, "How about I take you to dinner somewhere to make you feel better okay?"

'_Did Neji just ask me out and say I was beautiful?' _Tenten looked at him in shock.

'_Did I just ask Tenten out and say she was beautiful?' _Neji looked equally shocked.

"Um…I mean if you want to…" he mumbled embarrassed.

'_Wait a minute… Guilt… Shock… Embarrassment… That is three emotions! Neji showed three emotions… And none are related to Fate! And they all were about me!" _Tenten thought in shock.

"I would love to Neji!" Tenten said when she was pulled out of her stupor, "But we might want to get out of this hole first."

Neji was too happy to care at the moment. Somehow his inner fan boy had taken over and was on a partying spree with the other inner emotion personas. '_She said yes! She said yes! I have to get out of this pit but she said yes!'_

Happy plus Neji plus date plus adrenaline plus stone pit equals one escape route. Neji pumped chakra into his fist like he saw Tsunade do on one of the mission briefings and punched the solid wall at a forty-five degree angle. The result was one extremely large ramp up to the surface.

Tenten was so surprised she hugged Neji in happiness. "How did you do that? That was amazing! Was that Tsunade-sama's technique? How did you learn that! Can you teach me please?"

Neji tried to answer the questions in order. "I remember the hokage punching some white haired guy out of the room before I came in to talk to her for a small clan meeting. I managed to see her chakra with the Byakugan as she was doing it and I remembered the technique and that was the first time I tried it. I should have tested it though. My chakra coils are temporarily fried in my right arm. Also I didn't harden my fist so the impact ripped my skin a bit."

Neji's arm was hanging by his side. His jacket sleeve was burnt off and the skin looked burnt. Blood was coming out of his knuckles and the hand looked shaved. Neji wobbled on his feet and Tenten caught him by his good arm and carried him up and out of the ramp. Neji chuckled weakly, "Do you still want to go on that date with me later?"

"Yes you arrogant idiot, but right now we are going to the hospital." Tenten smirked at her new boyfriend and maneuvered his good arm over her shoulders to support him.

When they got to the top of the ramp they saw two oblivious spandex clad idiots arguing about how to rescue them from a pit that they made.

"We really should save our youthful comrades before they find out that we made the pit to get them together." Gai said to Lee, completely unaware of two very pissed off teens behind them.

"**YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HURTING NEJI-KUN!" **Tenten shouted at them in a demonic voice that even Kasai would be afraid of.

Neji gave Hyuuga glare number six, the one promising death, to Lee and his sensei. However he couldn't follow through with the threat because of chakra loss, blood loss, and a bit of shock at Tenten calling him 'kun'. He happily watched Tenten torture the two with a form of Thousand Years of Pain called Billion Ages of Death.

The technique involves finding a very large pointy object, such as a rock shard, and…(description was cut because I want to keep the T rating. Your imagination can make up the rest) the technique was only taught to Konoichi in the academy after Jiraiya's books became published.

"Tenten, you have no idea how surprisingly entertaining that was to watch." Neji told her as they walked to the hospital.

"It certainly made me feel better!" She said annoyed, "I have no clue who gave those two the idea to put us in a pit to hook us up but whoever it is they are going to be in a lot of pain if I ever get a hold of him."

XXX

Far away in a large hollow pine tree in a forest, a blonde boy sneezed in his sleep, waking up the small fox on his lap who grined a vulpine grin at the form of his master then fell asleep.

"**Kasai-san is going to be in so much trouble!" **

XXX

The after three days of sleeping to regain chakra, Naruto climbed out of his shelter, grabbed his pack and started on his way once again towards Iwakagure. Loki kept laughing at the boy as he walked, completely confusing him.

"Ok, What is so funny?"

"**Nothing Naruto-sama."**

"Did you prank me in my sleep again?"

"**I didn't prank you." **The fox responded.

"THEN WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY?"

"**Ask Kasai-san."**

"_Kasai, what does Loki find so funny?"_

"**Figure it out." **The demon responded in his head.

Naruto let a growl of annoyance escape his lips. He stopped off at a lake for a drink and also to see if there was something on his face. His face was the same as it had always been, if a bit thinner, but that could just be his imagination or the result of three days of no food. The boy sat down by the lake to ret.

"Loki do me a favor and catch a rabbit or something for me to cook."

"**Sure Naruto-sama" **the kit continued to laugh as he walked into the woods

"_Did you give me any fox powers?"_

"**No, kit," **Kasai chuckled

"_Fox features?" _Naruto checked his butt for tails.

"**No"**

"_Fox forms?" _

"**Not yet" **

"_I give up._

"**I am not telling you. You have to figure it out yourself. By the way we are close to the border of fire country. We have to cross a small and uninhabited village ruin that was at one point Tonbogakure or Village Hidden Under the Dragonfly. It was destroyed a while ago by another village. Then once we get through that we are in Earth Country. Oh and the thing I did to you… It will continue for a while. Check what happens sometime."**

"_Ok, but I have to find out what you are doing first."_

"**You will find out soon, I promise"**

"_I better!"_

Loki returned with a pair of rabbits and Naruto cooked his breakfast. During the middle of the meal, his head felt a bit itchy. Loki watched his master scratch his head angrily. The feeling refused to stop. Soon the little fox fell onto the ground laughing hysterically. The feeling stopped and Naruto had continued to eat his meal, forgetting it almost instantly. After a few minutes the fox still didn't stop laughing at the boy.

"Ok, I'll bite, what is funny now?"

The fox refused to answer it just gestured a paw at the boy's head.

Naruto walked back to the pond and looked at his reflection. His hair grew at least five inches and now made him look like the fourth Hokage's, except that his hair now had red tips on the spikes.

"_Kasai…Why did you change my hair? I liked it yellow." _

"**Think of me as doing…renovations. I want my vessel to look nice and also this will prevent you from being recognized. Oh and incase you were wondering, I also increased your intelligence so you could handle when we merge in a year. I have ages of experience so I need you to be able to understand it all."**

"_COULD YOU AT LEAST ASK ME FIRST?"_

"**See? Your personality didn't change that much with more intelligence. You are still the loud obnoxious kid like always."**

"_Did you do anything else?"_

"**Yes actually I did. Figure it out."**

XXX

After a few hours of walking Naruto entered the ruined city of Tonbogakure. Houses were reduced to faint outlines in the ash, now turned into a layer of coal. The entire area was charred and demolished. A virtual No Man's Land, devoid of life except for a thin layer of grass growing out of the patches of dirt. No one had claimed the land due to a ring like hive of huge poisonous dragonflies that surrounded the large territory. The bugs avoided Naruto because of his demonic smell that Kasai released as he "edited" the boy's body.

"Wow… look at that view." Naruto said in awe. The burnt landscape ended in a cliff, which was spared from the destruction. It was covered in red and white flowers and overlooked the vast mountain range behind it. The mountain cliff below was still layered with seals that prevented anyone from approaching with chakra covered feet from below.

"_How did a place this well protected manage to be destroyed so easily?"_

"**I believe that there once was a clan who had a bloodline with wings. Their village destroyed this one, but they were ruined by a bloody inter-clan war. I don't believe there were any survivors. It truly is a shame, this area was a perfect place for a village."**

"_Think we could do anything about it?" _Naruto questioned the Kyuubi.

"**We will see but right now, we need to find Koori. I can teach you a quick jutsu now but it might take up time on the trip. The seals are…"**

Naruto practiced the seals paying special attention to the demonic symbol of plant. Kasai directed him in the seals while Loki watched and gave suggestions. After a few hours Naruto perfected the jutsu.

He stood in the middle of the clearing, were the village used to be, finished the seals and shouted, "Bakudai Hara No Jutsu!" (1) and slammed his palm into the burnt coal.

Almost instantly a field of grass sprouted from his palm, moving outward until the entire area was covered in a soft field of grass and flowers of varying colors. All traces of the soot, ash, and rock was obliterated.

"Much better." Naruto said with a smile. Not only did he learn a demonic jutsu, but also he resurrected a dead and forlorn place into a beautiful area that he knew only he and Loki knew about.

"_Hey Kasai…How am I going to get down?"_

"**Summon a five tailed fox by the name of Karuko, I will regulate the chakra for it. She will get you down the cliff."**

Naruto bit his thumb and did the proper techniqueand put in the amount of chakra Kasai let him. He summoned an electric blue vixen fox with a pair of feathered wings, which had black tips, and five tails. She was bigger than the tigers in the Forest of Death.

"**Hello, new Kyuubi-sama. How may I be of assistance?"**

"Can you fly me down to the ground below? And please call me Naruto."

"**Of course, Naruto Kyuubi-sama."**

Loki snorted in the background.

"But please leave Loki behind."

"**My pleasure!" **The vixen laughed.

"**Hey!" **Loki shouted in annoyance.

The large fox spread her wings and picked up Naruto in her tails before he could object. She couldn't carry the boy very far, but they managed to reach the ground safely.

"This is far enough Karuko." Naruto said when the fox reached the ground. "By the way, why do you have wings anyway?"

"**I am the daughter of a member of the Kajitori and another of the kitsune. I managed to get more from my mother so I became a fox. Interbreeding between clans is not common though. Too many complications occur, like a child with gills but no lungs and has wings but no fins. "**

"That makes sense. That might cause problems, but why did the heirs fall in love if they knew the risks?"

"**Only Kami knows."**

She departed back to the demonic realm once Naruto reached ground. The boy heard a poof behind him. '_Apparently Loki tried__to get down the hard way.'_

The boy chuckled at the fox's mistake. A few seconds later, the prankster kit appeared on the boys shoulder again. "Damn, it was so much more peaceful without you around," Naruto laughed.

"**Yeah yeah, you know you would miss me." **The fox stuck his tongue out at the boy.

"No. No I really wouldn't." Naruto responded with a smile.

The fox snorted and licked the inside of Naruto's now elongated ear.

"AAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!!"

Loki jumped off the furious boy's shoulder before he could strangle him.

XXX

Naruto walked up to the gate of Iwagakure, a mountainous cave, later that night and hollered up to the guards. "Hey! Can you open up the gate for a weary traveler?"

"Name!" A guard shouted back.

"Kasai Kajinodo! Nomad from Fire tribe!"

The gate opened with a bang, a chunin from Iwa waited in front of him. "Papers please."

Naruto handed the false papers that he had left over from an infiltration mission a while ago. The name had changed and the description was also new, thanks to a bit of chakra.

The gates closed behind him right after he was ushered through. The city was just like it had been when he visited last time. A city inside of a hollowed out volcano, the houses made of rock.

"_Kasai, I just figured out what you did to me. You made me taller didn't you?"_

"**Actually, you are at the height you would be if you were seventeen, at least six foot three (2). ****I boosted your growth patterns a bit. You were honestly a fucking midget before and no Lord of Biju should be a shrimp. Sorry but it was necessary."**

"_Once again you could have told me earlier! I didn't expect everyone in a friggen village to be so short!"_

"**At least your clothes grew with you!"**

Naruto growled, his now elongated canines peeking through in a grimace. Naruto froze for a second…

"_YOU CHANGED MY TEETH TOO?"_

"**You need them for Koori's Taijutsu. He uses lots of flips and his fangs. Also they kind of are part of being a demon."**

"_They were already longer than normal!"_

"**They were short for a demon!"**

"_How the hell can I kick you out as soon as possible? I am not some toy that you can play with and change what ever you want! NO MORE CHANGES!"_

"**Sorry, kit, but half of these come with the territory. My blood and chakra are mixing with yours as you get older and will eventually turn you into an almost full demon. If I don't help them along gradually, they will all occur at once, which would pop you like a zit. I won't do anything major yet, but you will receive all of your powers on your birthday when you turn sixteen, just over two years from now."**

"_No more surprises?"_

"**Can't promise anything yet. Hmm… I wonder what color your guts would be when you pop from power overload. Probably red, or pink, maybe purplish red…"**

"_Okay, okay. Just tell me first."_

"**That is good because you will get your first form in a week. What do you think you will look like as a fox?"**

"_Kasai, you better be joking."_

"**Kami you mortals have no sense of humor!" **Kasai lied through his teeth. Naruto didn't notice the fib, to the foxes luck.

The now young man looked around for a hotel to sleep in. it was getting very late and he still needed to regain chakra. Loki had already fallen asleep on his shoulder before he entered the city. A hotel in the slums was the only open place at the time, so Naruto paid a minute amount for a small room for a night. The boy gently placed Loki on the floor and collapsed onto the bed, slightly drained from the traveling, summoning, and demonic jutsu.

XXX

'_I hate grocery shopping. Every member in the Akatsuki does. Leader-sama forces me to do it though. Kisame freaked out last time when he saw a jar of pickled shark fins. Deidara's hands licked everything they touched,' _Itachi shuddered at the memory of the slimy tomato he ate right after the blonde went shopping, '_Zetsu couldn't fit through the door and when he used henge, he tried to eat the cashier for overcharging him. Tobi refused to give up wearing his cloak and orange mask, even though his face is completely normal underneath it and he has two eyes. Hidan insisted on doing his stupid ritual in front of the store and when he was interrupted, he went on a killing spree. Kakazu argued about the price of everything. Sasori bought spent all of the money on wood and hinges. Barako spent all of her money on flowers (the base smelled of roses for weeks!) and then freaked out when she saw the arrangements. She even redid every single fucking flowerpot to "make it fit better" then killed the florist with her poison. Leader-sama picked one weird partner! But even he refuses to go shopping. He says he is not coming out of the shadow to build his mysterious character or suspense or something. Ugh…I cant believe I am stuck in this pack of weirdoes.'_

Itachi was henged as a common villager with brown hair in a basic brown outfit. He grabbed a jar of shark fins for his specialty soup, and to freak out his partner. He grinned evilly as he put it into the satchel around his shoulder. He checked his shopping list once more.

Fish for Kisame: No check

Fifteen boxes of pocky: No check

Extra Silky Luminous Volumizing Hair Product for Deidara: check

Fertilizer for Zetsu: check

Hats, cloaks, and dark purple nail polish: triple check

Fresh roses (black) for Barako: check

Heavy-duty bloodstain remover for Hidan: check

Thread and knitting needles for Kakazu (_that guy has weird hobbies_): No check

Tooth care products for Zetsu (_the way he eats, he needs them_): check

More wood, nails, screws, hinges etc for Sasori: check

Paint-on shadow for Leader-sama: check

Basic foods: check

Rats for Hebi: no check

Itachi walked to the sweet shop and made a bee-line for the pocky. '_Only seven varieties? They need to improve their selection!'_

He grabbed his snacks and headed to the fish food cart. Kisame specifically requested yellowtail and swordfish but Itachi was shocked at the prices. He turned on his Sharingan and looked into the eyes of the fish merchant. "This fish is not fresh, it should be free."

The merchant repeated in monotone, "I am sorry sir. That fish is not fresh. Please take it on the house."

Itachi smirked and packed up his fish and headed to the hobby stand. He twitched at the variety of knitting equipment for sale. '_Kakazu is so going to pay for making me buy this shit for him. And not in monetary value.'_

"Excuse me deary, would you like to buy some yarn?" A withered old crone with hand-knitted everything walked over to Itachi, her cane thumping along the ground. She was even shorter than the Akatsuki member. Itachi twitched again.

"Yes…I want the most horrible, vibrant, cheery, neon color yarn you have. I am getting it for a …friend."

The old woman smiled, her wrinkles framing her face. She came back with a pair of neon pink knitting needles and a ball of…something. The yarn was a mix of neon pink, neon orange, and neon yellow with a stripe of vomit green and periwinkle blue clashing horribly in the middle of it. Even worse, the thread was itchy and almost painful to touch. The color made Itachi want to tear out his eyes, Sharingan or not.

"I have never been able to sell this. Is it what you wanted?" The old lady could tell immediately that Itachi did not have the best interests of the receiver in mind when he asked for the thread.

"Perfect!" Itachi gave the elderly woman a large tip for the vibrant and almost painful yarn. Kakazu was in desperate need of more string and he would have to use the painful thread. If Itachi were lucky, the five-hearted shinobi would never ask for yarn shopping from Itachi ever again!

Itachi frowned at the last item on the list. They had recently captured the jinchiruki of the eight-tailed snake. She was Sasuke's age and Zetsu captured her in Kusagakure. She was the jailor of a very powerful demon and the only way the leader would be able to control it is if he seals some of the weaker demons first. The girl would be tortured and starved except for the worst food imaginable. This week they were going with rats.

Itachi thought of the leader in disgust. The one thing Itachi hated most was mistreatment of children. The girl was not even a ninja yet! He sucked on a piece of pocky thoughtfully, '_How can I get out of this deal? The ring will bind me for my years and if I throw it away it will slowly poison me until it goes back on my finger. It burns my body from the inside out for a few minutes when I fail a mission too, so I can't ignore buying rats for the poor girl. Even if it is just shopping it still counts as a mission. Its times like this I wish I just let the Uchiha clan council-' _

"What would you like to buy sir?" a voice asked Itachi from the inside of the pet store, shaking the man out of his memories.

"Do you have rats to feed a snake?" Itachi asked in a sigh. His body was still healing from when he messed up the mission to capture Kyuubi. He couldn't heal two burnings in a row.

"How many do you need? We only have three left at the moment."

"Three is fine." Itachi replied monotone. '_At least the girl will not have to suffer for too long.'_

The man brought out three mice in a box. The animals were small but they moved around inside their wooden cage.

"Thank you." Itachi left the store to head to the forest outside of the small town. He hopped along on the tree branches, a habit he picked up from living in the heavily wooded forests of Fire country. A cold wind brushed his shoulder, ruffling his Akatsuki cloak. His mind began to wander.

'_What am I doing here? What would my life be like if I hadn't sold my soul to the Leader and killed my clan? What would Sasuke say if he knew his brother killed the clan to prevent them from-'_

"Itachi-dono! You brought food, yeah?" Deidara shouted happily to the angsty dark-haired man, annoyed that his thoughts were interrupted once again.

"Well miss Deidara …I normally bring food when I go to the food store…"

"I TOLD YOU I AM A FRIGGEN MALE, UN!!!"

It has been a running joke among the Akatsuki to call Deidara female in some way, even though they all know that he is a guy. He hates it, but the other members want to get their kicks any way they can.

"Itachi…you of all people should know better than to call me miss… so every time you call me that I will call you Minku!" The blond shot back. Kisame told all of the other members about the Kyuubi container's slip up, so now all of them were calling Itachi "Minku".

"If you do, I will shove my pocky down your throat for five days in Tsukuyomi."

The explosion-happy nin sighed in defeat. "Alright you win, yeah."

"Good, and don't forget it Deidara-chan." Itachi ducked a kunai that was thrown half-heartedly at him.

"Hey Itachi, by the way, I heard you saw your brother recently. You didn't kill him did you?" Deidara said seriously. He was gone on a mission for two months and only recently received the news from Kisame.

The Sharingan wielder gave Uchiha glare number four (lay off that topic glare).

The blonde was not fluent in glare-ology and continued in a sympathetic tone. "He was the reason right? For you killing the clan, un? I can tell that you care for him. You could have done much worse than sentencing him to watch your parent's death. Why did you kill your family anyway, yeah?"

Itachi sighed; he knew someone would figure it out. "The clan was becoming to big. The head, my father, was going to instate branch family. They even went as far as getting the directions for the Caged Bird seal from the Hyuuga. My best friend and my brother were going to be the first victims. My friend Shisui was sealed, he came to me first, to warn me." Itachi's voice got quieter. The pair had long since stopped waking and they were talking in front of an abandoned building inside the ghost town that was their main hideout. Once Itachi started the story, it wouldn't let him stop. Deidara patiently listened; his respect for the other member grew.

"He asked me to kill him before the council did. Shisui knew about the Mangekyo Sharingan and forced me to kill him so I could become more powerful his last wish was that I avenge him. Even with the new eyes, I needed help getting revenge for my friend and to protect my brother, but Sasuke was going to receive his mark soon. I had to enlist the Leader's help. He killed most of the other members of the clan; I took on all of the heads of the clan and the main family. I did it while Sasuke was at school so he wouldn't see the violence, but he came home early. I had to explain why I was standing over the bodies of our parents so I told him it was for power. I figured it was better that he hated _me_ than he blamed himself for all of the clan's death. I couldn't stay with him anyway; I was already the property of our master. Tools shouldn't have feelings of remorse."

"You know, Itachi-dono, out of all of us, I think you had the most noble reason to join Leader-sama, yeah. I was treated like an animal in Iwagakure. My family was one of the most hated in the entire country. We were once powerful and ruled the village from the shadows. However, we were almost all killed right before the first shinobi war by another ruling family. My mother escaped, the only survivor, while pregnant with me. I grew up in the slums; my mother was killed when I was four. I wanted revenge, un. I joined the academy under a false name, got training until I was thirteen, and then attempted to kill the other family that killed my clan. I didn't succeed. Leader-sama took me in and I sold my soul for help killing them, yeah. I never told anyone about that actually, un." Deidara looked surprised.

"I wont tell the others about your past if you do not tell them mine." Itachi said, equally shocked that he told the blonde his past. The man felt like he had to tell his past to the blonde, like they were meant to, somehow. _'Oh Kami, I sound like a Hyuuga, thinking about fate!'_

The pair continued to the hideout in silence, both thinking about each other's past.

XXX

Meanwhile in Konoha, somehow, a certain group of pranksters managed to flood the inside of the Hokage monument with smelly, green ooze that seeped out of the Hokage's noses. The Third's was actually more of a red color, making him look like he had a giant nosebleed. He had the word Ero-Kage spray painted on his forehead. Yondaime's hair was actually spray painted yellow and somehow had a fire jutsu burning on top of it. His face was painted to look up in shock. Nidaime had drool coming out of his mouth, looking very funny mixing with the ooze. Shodaime had a giant mustache and goatee.

It took hours for anyone to realize that Iruka was not going to capture the pranksters like he normally did. Apparently, the teacher had taken the week off. He was actually enjoying a bottle of sake with Teuchi, a practice that was becoming a habit for the pair.

Tsunade was laughing her ass off in her office and scribbling down the scene in the now extended scroll for Naruto. The fox had given up waiting and had left to hunt about two days ago. She was planning to publicly announce the disappearance of Naruto to the village but decided it would be better if she only told his friends. The hokage sighed at the thought of what to tell them. _'Most have no clue about Kyuubi, why Naruto was hated, or that he was tortured with eight S-Rank missions! How the hell am I going to explain this!' _

The Kage took out a spare bottle of sake. '_They are smart kids I will let them figure it out.'_

XXX

Shino, Kiba, and Hinata were training at training ground eight. They had just started to eat lunch when Kiba brought up a conversation. "Hey have either of you guys seen Naruto lately? The village has been a target of pranks, one clearly saying goodbye to him, Iruka-sensei has been seen drunk at least three times the past week, Akamaru smelled his blood recently, and for some reason the Hokage killed the elder council for treason!"

Hinata let out a small gasp. '_I can't tell him Naruto left!_ _He made me promise!_'

Shino noticed Hinata stiffen. '_She know where he is, she can't tell us for some reason, and she didn't faint at the mention of his name. She must have recently seen him too. I fear this has something to do with the fox demon.'_

For some reason, Shino was the only member of the rookie nine to pull together all of the links between Naruto and the Kyuubi. He figured it out when Naruto failed the test the second time. He had overheard the adult ninjas calling him a demon and foxboy. The quiet boy noticed the blond had the same birthday as the Kyuubi attack, and the fact that no one had ever killed a demon. Also, the three markings on his cheeks were a big hint. Shino never talked about it purely because no one asked.

Shocking both his teammates, Shino spoke up. "I am sure Naruto can take care of himself Kiba. He is probably away training."

Kiba looked in awe. "S-Shino…you spoke two sentences! What is next, you taking off your sunglasses?"

"I have no wish to become like the Uchiha thank you." The bug boy shuddered.

"Emotion? Hinata attack this imposter!" Kiba exclaimed as he tackled the taller boy. Hinata squeaked at almost being flattened.

Suring the scuffle, Kiba ripped the collar of Shino's coat so they could see his face, and the poor quiet boy's glasses also fell off.

Kiba and Hinata both gasped.

Hinata stuttered, "Sh-Shino? Why do you hide your face? You are a-almost as good looking as Naruto!"

Shino's eyes were a deep emerald, but they were luminescent, like a fly's eyes, so that the irises looked blue when he turned his head. Other than the color, his eyes were completely normal. The coat hid his lower face, but without it, he looked quite attractive. (3)

"I do not want fan girls." Shino muttered snatching up his glasses. He hid his face ever since he saw his father almost die from a fan girl attack. The fact that his father was married did not affect the ferocity of the women.

Kiba backed off quickly. "So, why don't we see if the others found anything out?"

Both of his teammates nodded, happy to divert the attention off of themselves.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_**Oops I forgot the numbers!**_

_**Bakudai hara no jutsu my crappy translation of field expansion technique. I use an online translator for all of my Japanese names so please don't flame on bad translations!**_

_**Hehe…I wanted Naruto to be taller so that he doesn't get made fun of by Koori. And trust me…the wolf demon is merciless!**_

_**Poor Shino is so quiet he should be cute under all of that clothing. Also I think he is smart enough to pull together all of the pieces of the puzzle.**_

_**XXXXXX**_

_**YAY I'm Done! Sixteen pages a new record! I am sorry I did not update earlier, I am in the middle of midterm exams. They suck like hell. I found a few mistakes in my earlier drafts but I am too lazy to fix them please do not flame. Later chapters will have the right spellings and names. Also I am working on pictures of the biju and a graph to help all of you confused with the love conflicts. Also an OC listing will be posted later on my profile. I am going to start the new chapter soon so it will be up in a few weeks. Thanks to all of my new and old fans and please review!**_

_**Itachi, Deidara, and Kisame will be good characters. If you do not like it, too bad, it is important for the plot!**_

_**Next chapter will be mostly Naruto and some Konoha I believe, but if a plot bunny appears in my head, this is subject to change.**_


	6. friends,bloodline,demons,Koori

_**I am writing this at 5:00am please do not flame for errors. Naruto goes to Iwa and has to awaken his bloodline to escape (blame Loki), Loki needs to enlist some help of friends, Naruto gets some otherworldly fangirls, and The Konoha Ten (Shino, Hinata, Kiba, InoShikaCho, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Sakura. Did I miss any?) tries to figure out why everyone seems to hate Naruto. **_

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

"Good morning Sakura-chan! And you too Ino-chan!" Lee said in a cheerful voice. His voice was three octaves too high, a result of Tenten's punishment. The girls were eating a lunch of the low fat, low calorie ramen that Ichiraiku was selling. Neji and Tenten were also eating a bit of food before training.

Lee's voiced turned into the voice of a kicked puppy when he saw Tenten's glare. "Are my teammates still angry with me? I was just trying to unite your youthfulness and create the best team in Konoha."

Lee borrowed Naruto's Puppy Eyed Jutsu. (1)

Tenten sighed, "Well, you did help me gain Neji-kun as a boyfriend…"

Neji did an out-of-character spit-take. "I thought we were keeping that a secret!"

Tenten gave him the Puppy eyes, starting to tear, "Y-your e-embarrassed to be my b-boyfriend?"

Neji's pale eyes widened, '_is fate really this cruel?' (2)_

"No, that's not it! I don't mind! Ugh…women are troublesome"

Outside the ramen bar Shikamaru sneezed.

Tenten hit him on the head with an inflatable bat and calmly asked, "Now, what were you saying?"

"Please don't give me A Billion years of Death!" The prodigy panicked, clapping his hands in prayer and bowing.

"That's what I thought!"

Shikamaru and Choji walked into the stand looking for Ino. "My god Hyuuga, she has you on a short chain," The lazy nin commented seeing Neji cowering next to a bat wielding Tenten.

The prodigy held up a sign that read, "Never get a girlfriend, trust me."

Fortunately Tenten did not see it.

Shikamaru and Choji sat down to eat and started chatting about missions and going-ons in Konoha. A little while later Kiba, Shino and Hinata walked in. Hinata ordered a bowl of miso-ramen, like she normally did. She had been eating here for months, at first because of her infatuation with Naruto, then because she got addicted to the stuff.

"Hey, has anyone seen Naruto lately?" Kiba asked the gathering, right to the point.

Lee looked up from his curry. "Naruto-kun talked to me a few days ago. He said he had a mission to go to."

Sakura and Ino both looked up, Sakura said, "Ino and I went shopping and got him new clothes earlier this week. Hinata you have quite a catch once he got out of that ridiculous outfit!"

Hinata giggled, "Naruto personally said goodbye to me earlier, sorry I didn't say anything Kiba."

Neji shuddered, he had just about gotten that image out of his brain and then his cousin had to bring it up. He respected the blond now, even if he did have the Kyuubi sealed inside of him.

The Hyuuga council told him after the exams were over. He had guessed that they wanted to make him hate Naruto for using it during the final exams, but they didn't realize that Neji was smart enough to realize how Naruto didn't use the demon's chakra until he couldn't use his own. At first he was astonished, but eventually he felt bad. He had lectured the boy on having a seal that can never be erased, when Naruto had an even worse curse. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone about the boy's condition.

"Et tu Hinata?" (3) Kiba said in defeat. "I guess we will just have to wait to ask him when he comes back."

Teuchi sighed from behind the counter, "You will be waiting a long time, kid."

The dog user straightened in his seat, "What do you mean?"

"I doubt Naruto is coming back from that mission. Not many people can survive an S-Rank mission, let alone the ninth in a row."

The small group gasped with the exception of Hinata, who faked it.

"Oh Hinata, I am so sorry for you!" Ino sympathetically told the Hyuuga heiress.

Hinata started to fake cry, a talent that most women have (4). "He said goodbye but I didn't know exactly where he was going. I should have told him earlier." Her voice was a bit over dramatic but no one seemed to notice.

Shino lowered his head in disbelief. He knew that most people hated Naruto, but why did the council send him to his death? He honestly enjoyed the boy's spirit and enthusiasm. Naruto should have been a hero, not a martyr.

Sakura was in tears. Both of her teammates were gone. '_I should have been stronger! I could have helped them both! As the last member of team seven, I will make them proud'_

She steeled her nerves and promised to devote herself to her training. She would ask Tsunade-sama later to train her.

"I noticed something while Sakura and I went shopping with him… All of the villagers were glaring at him. At first I didn't notice it, but out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn that they were giving him dirty looks! Now the council of Elders sends him on nine S-Rank missions? Why does everyone hate him? My parents even told me to stay away from him when we were in the academy…" Ino said in revelation.

Neji, Shino, and Hinata all suddenly became very interested in their ramen.

Shikamaru spoke up, "Yeah my parents told me the same thing."

Sakura looked up, "Sasuke once offered to take Naruto and I out to lunch after a training session. Naruto had been complaining about being hungry and my stomach voiced its opinion and together we wore Sasuke down enough so that he would pay for both of us. He took us to a restaurant, but the owner kicked Naruto out and refused to serve us."

Choji gasped at the idea of being kicked out of a restaurant.

Tenten looked confused, "My father says that Naruto is a great shinobi, even if he is a bit overenthusiastic."

Lee voiced his opinion loudly, but everyone tuned him out.

Shikamaru mused out loud, "So Naruto is despised by most, but liked by some people, but the people who hate him aren't just his prank victims, but most of the population."

Tenten turned to her boyfriend, who, she noticed, had not spoken the entire conversation. "Neji, why do you think everyone hates him?"

The Hyuuga had a panicked look in his eyes, "Umm, I do not know! Hinata-sama, you are dating him. Why do you think he is disliked?" Neji said to the first available scapegoat, unaware that she shared the same plight as him.

Hinata blushed and started to stutter, she too looked around frantically for another person to ask. She spotted Shino who was sitting in a corner. "S-Shino!" The bug boy looked up, amazingly fast for him.

"W-what is your opinion on the topic?"

The bug boy muttered something then said out loud, "Why Hinata, I believe Neji asked you first."

Hinata started stammering when she noticed everyone was looking at her and pulled out her ace in the hole.

She fainted.

Neji jumped up and exclaimed, "Hinata-sama! Are you okay! I apologize for leaving but I must take Hinata-sama home." He quickly picked the comatose girl up, kissed Tenten on the cheek and left the ramen stand in a hurry, not waiting for any objections.

Shino stood up, equally as quick and muttered, "I had better make sure she is okay." And also left the crowd.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Lee asked, "Does anyone else feel as if those three are hiding something?" he received many nods.

XXX

Hinata woke up on a park bench with Neji and Shino talking next to her.

"So how long have you known that Naruto was the container of the Kyuubi?" Neji asked Shino, curious. "I just found out after the chunin exams."

"Since the academy." Shino said, true to his character.

Hinata gasped at the boys, "You knew too?"

Both figures looked at her and nodded. Neji sighed, "Thank god you have a talent for fainting. If you had not given us both a way out of that mess I would probably have had to tell them your boyfriend's secret."

Hinata stuttered, "H-he is not my b-boyfriend yet."

Neji looked her in the eyes, "Next time you two make out in the courtyard and I see you, I will personally Jyuuken his ass to Iwagakure!"

Shino's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. '_Too Much Information.'_

Hinata giggled nervously, "Did anyone else see us?"

Neji shook his head. "Thank you for personally scarring me for life."

The girl blushed a bit.

XXX

Far away a blond/red haired man sneezed for the seventeenth time in a row, causing a fox kit to slash the man's nose in irritation. The pain forced Naruto to wake up, even though the scratch was gone already.

"Loki, that hurt!"

"**It was supposed to! You were sneezing so much that I fell off of your head four times!"**

"THEN DON'T SLEEP ON MY HEAD!"

"**But it is as comfy like a shag rug…" **the kit whined.

Naruto grumbled as he picked up his pack and headed out. It was almost noon, Naruto had slept for hours longer than he normally did. He groaned in annoyance, he was behind schedule. He walked out of the slums and into the food district, aiming for the closest ramen stand.

Kyuubi roared inside his head, "**Don't go eat that filth, I finally destroyed all of the mal-nutrition inside your body! Don't poison it again!"**

"_Too bad! I do not have much money anymore, I need the most inexpensive food I can get!"_

Naruto walked into a ramen stand and ordered three bowls, one for Loki, one to eat, and one to bring for his trip. After he left the ramen stand, he headed to the other gate on the far side of the city. The gate guards allowed him to leave easily, the gate opened to a vast, dried, dusty wasteland.

As soon as he left the city, he heard a large explosion behind him. A certain fox looked very smug. Shouts and screams soon followed and Naruto heard shouts from the guards behind him. Loki hopped onto his shoulder and he started to run.

"Loki…what did you do this time?"

"**Well…lets just say that that village will not smell the prettiest for a while."**

"Kuso, you do know that you make my life hell, right?"

"**Welcome to the life of a demon!"**

The wasteland ended in a mountain, but it looked really far away. The guards, and now Iwa ANBU, were gaining on the boy. "_Kasai, I could use a bit of help?"_

"**This is a great opportunity to test out your bloodline! Push chakra into your eyes and twist it counterclockwise."**

Naruto tried it but nothing happened.

"**Counter clockwise I said, you baka!" **

Naruto twisted the chakra the other way and suddenly he felt a small bit of chakra slowly being eaten away.

"**Good, now try to imagine a clock slowing down, if you can, and push chakra through the image."**

Naruto tried and suddenly he heard a small ticking. He looked behind him and the ninjas following seemed to be moving super slowly. He ran in a circle, whooped, and then headed for the mountain. "I have the coolest bloodline!"

"**Yeah yeah, don't let it get to your fucking head! This only lasts a short time. Now, push chakra to your legs and do the seals…"**

Kasai listed three seals, all demonic. It took Naruto a few tries to get them right but when he did, the world suddenly went by in a blur. Naruto couldn't stop well and he crossed the desert so fast that the rock wall of the mountain was approaching him. He tried to backpedal but that only slowed him down.

"**KAI USE KAI!"** Kasai shouted.

Naruto managed to make the seal right before he hit the wall, He stopped running and when he opened his eyes, his nose was two inches away from the wall. Loki was holding Naruto's red trench coat in a death grip, shaking in pure terror. Comically, His fur turned almost pure white instead of its normal orange.

"**N-ne-v-v-er d-do t-h-h-at ag-g-ain."**

Naruto laughed at the poor kit, instantly forgetting about how close he just was to becoming a splatter on the wall.

XXX

The ANBU captain became rooted on the spot, his jaw dropped. The other ANBU were more confused than shocked.

The blond and red haired traveler had just ran off in a flash of red, his feet kicked up a storm of dust and the flash turned it crimson. The whirlwind knocked all of the pursuers backward. Only the captain, Han, who had fought in the first shinobi war, remembered the technique.

_**Flashback:**_

Han stood in the front of the group, his eyes wide with fear. By some freak chance, he, a genin, was put into the front lines in a scrimmage against Konoha. Standing tall on the opposite side, was the Yellow Flash. His eyes were blue with four lightning bots in the shape of a cross, his hair a shock of yellow. Even from fifty feet away, Han could still see the glow of his eyes. When the fight started, the Yellow Flash activated his technique and mowed down the entire group of nins. He looked back at Han, and then knocked him out instead of killing him. The last thing the boy heard was, "The battlefront is no place for a kid."

_**End Flashback**_

Han, now twenty nine, looked back on the fading technique and fell down on his knees. The younger ANBU looked back in shock at their leader.

"Boys, we are outclassed and outmatched. That was the technique of the Yellow Flash, the man who almost single handedly ended the war against Konoha. It is a bloodline more powerful than anything you can imagine. Stand down."

XXX

Naruto collapsed from chakra loss on the ground in front of the mountain, completely unaware of the identity of his father. Loki sniffed the comatose boy and sighed. Suddenly he felt a peculiar pulling sensation on the back of his neck, near the scruff.

He gave in to the feeling of being summoned and felt himself transport away. He felt a quick burning sensation, like he passed through a wall of fire, then he blacked out.

When he woke up he was sitting in front of a giant fox, bigger than a mountain. He stammered out, "K-kyuubi-sama! W-where are we?"

The giant fox transformed into a man, around eighteen years old in appearance, with fox ears, whisker marks, nine bushy tails and red hair. "Please Loki, call me Kasai. I am no longer the Kyuubi, merely a spirit trapped in a boy's head. Don't worry; you are not sealed in here too. I summoned you so that you can gather a few kitsune to get the new Kyuubi to safety, due to his comatose state, and help free the Lord of Ookami. The ookami lord is trapped inside that mountain so it would be beneficial to bring a wolf with you if you can find one who won't attack you. Make any demons do these seals," he flashed through a few sets of hand seals as many times as Loki needed to memorize them, "The jutsu allows demons to breath air. It would also allow you to transform on the human world I need them to help me destroy the rock near the top of the largest mountain of the range. I can take control of the boy's body while he is in a coma, but I only have a limited amount of time before he wakes up. Every second counts, so hurry up, okay? I am holding back my chakra from waking him up."

Before Loki could even talk to his idol, he was thrown back out of the mind, as if he was attached to a rubber band. He quickly transported himself to the demon world, determined not to fail a wish of the lord of biju.

XXX

The demon realm was a sad sight. Most trees were destroyed, the once lush forests were gone. They were victims of the poisonous chakra of the hebi clan, lightning from te ryuu, fire from the Kajitori, and many weapons. The war started when the heirs left, causing everyone to blame each other. Most went after the kitsune for not doing their job of maintaining peace. The kitsune's numbers were dwindling.

Loki ran across a charred area that he remembered was once a farm and into the burnt borders of the kitsune premises. The fox kit leaped over the broken gates he noticed the kitsune area had been attacked once again. There were about twenty rough looking Ryuu attacking a group of kitsune fighters. He leaped onto the throat of an attacking one tailed dragon and knocked him out by choking. He dodged a lightning bolt and narrowly missed a spiked tail that was swung at him. Quickly he ran into a secluded area and transformed into his half human form. He cringed at the cracking and snapping sound of his spine re-aligning and his legs extending. His forelegs grew into arms and his paws turned into hands and feet. Clothes appeared on his body, a pair of baggy pants and a sliver vest, similar to the chunin one. His second joints of his legs were wrapped in bandages. A sliver collar also appeared, with a medallion that had a nine branched swirl engraved on it. His head was still fox like and his body was covered in a layer of bright orange-red fur. Muscles rippled under the fur, making him look more like fifteen than ten in human years. He quickly took out his daggers that were strapped onto his shin and leapt into the fray.

"Loki you have returned!" A female voice shouted in shock. His sister Shiroko, a pure white two tail, was battling a four-tailed dragon. Loki leaped to her aid and quickly knocked out the bigger demon with a chop to the neck from behind. Loki didn't have multiple tails, but he was a great fighter.

"Look, Kyuubi-sama needs to free the Wolf Lord. His vessel got knocked out from using too much chakra, which allows Lord Kasai to take control for a little while. We need help destroying a mountain. I will help send these losers packing but later you have to help me, got it?"

"Of course Loki-nii-chan. These guys are no that strong and act like common bandits than shinobi, most likely exiled from the Ryuu clan. Watch-out!"

A large size dragon with five tails had snuck up behind Loki and raised a battleaxe, ready to strike. Loki dodged the weapon and it was embedded in the ground, effectively useless. He swung his clawed foot around in a powerful kick and slammed it into the dragon's soft nose, causing it to bleed. The dragon snarled out, "You bastard!" Then it slashed its claws around. He missed the fox completely because Loki flipped over its head. Loki got into a stance that looked like a crouching wild beast then attacked in a flurry of blows, but most of them were blocked. The dragon started shooting lightning bolts at the quick fox, and one connected with the kitsune's left leg. When the fox stumbled, the dragon gave a swift slash into Loki's head. The fox managed to duck but his ear and forehead had a large cut across it.

The kitsune's healing power was not as strong because of his lack of tails, so the cut did not mend. The blood dripped into the fox's eyes, temporarily blinding him. He rolled away from the dragon's claws and teeth.

A black, five-tailed vixen alpha leaped in front of the wounded fox and attacked the exiled demon with her katana. "Loki-kun! I will finish this one off! Go find a healer!"

"Thanks Tamarako!" Loki shouted in her general direction. He wiped the blood out of his eyes and although his eyes stung, he had partial vision. "Were is Saga?" He looked around but everything was fuzzy.

"Over here, Loki-kun! Bring your youthful self this way!" A bright green colored, two-tailed fox shouted as he kicked a grunt dragon out of the way and knocked it out. He was wearing a pair of orange pants with a silver vest like Loki. (4)

"Kuso" Loki muttered '_He still did not update his fashion sense. He looks worse than the boss did!"_

"Saga! I need a bit of first aid! Give me a hand here!" The fox shouted as he tried to walk to his friend, but failed. The green fox ran to the injured warrior and grabbed a vial of healing ointment from a pocket of his vest. He pushed demonic chakra into the paste and then put it onto the cut on the fox's head.

"You are missing the tip of your right ear, but if I can't heal it then I will work at the hospital for three days straight, cleaning up the bathrooms!" (5)

"Ok…but please fix my leg before you go on a cleaning spree."

"These unyouthful burns seem to have just barely touched you, so they will heal in a few hours." Saga put the ointment on the wounds and Loki almost instantly felt better. He flexed his leg and stood up.

"Thanks a lot Saga. I think that was the last of them." Loki said as he looked around. The dragons were all knocked out and most were injured, but no fatally.

"How is your mission going?"

"Naruto-Kyuubi-sama is alright, but he is not in the least ready to take over for Lord Kasai. In fact, right now he is knocked out because he used too much chakra getting away from enemy shinobi. Now Kasai-sama can take control to help free the wolf lord but he needs help getting him out of a mountain."

"Ok… but I meant how many pranks have you pulled on the unsuspecting human race?" Saga asked with a misgevious grin. He and Loki were partners in crime when it came to pranks, Loki imagining them up, them both creating and activating the pranks and traps, and Saga creating escape routes and getting them out of trouble. Before the war, they had many partners in the Tanuki clan. Together, they were feared in all of the territories as The Chaos Twins, Order's Bane, and a few other more inappropriate names.

"Enough to make one stuck up clan think that their house is haunted, and traps that will make our lord-in-training have a reputation for covering his tracks. No one would be able to follow him unless he wishes it, or I do."

"Nice! Now, when are you going to ask him if you could be his guard and receive the coveted white collar?"

Loki laughed. "If I ask him if I could be his guard, he wouldn't understand what I mean! He doesn't understand our entire rank system!"

Saga also laughed, "Hell it confuses me sometimes!"

Loki glared at him, "Okay lets go over this one more time… the lowest rank is grunts. They wear green collars. Then the clan members, non-shinobi or retired, who wear blue collars. There are warriors next, with red. Then there are knights, like us, who receive silver collars and vests. Then alphas who have black collars and vests. Then guards, white everything, our highest honor. Guards must swear allegiance to a lord or supreme lord and be their bodyguard for the rest of their life. Lords are only heirs, gold collars, who become lords after their 2000 birthday (6). There is a higher rank, supreme lord, but only Kasai and ancient demon leaders have ever received support from all of the clans to become it."

Saga had fallen asleep somewhere around "Okay"

Loki punched him in the head. "This is why you were second to last in the grunt rank! You never paid attention to our sensei!"

"Then why were you last?"

"I TOLD YOU! THE BASTARD HATED ME FOR DYING HIS HAIR WITH RAINBOW DYE! HE ALWAYS GAVE ME AN IMPOSSIBLE TEST!"

"Sure, blame the test."

"Yes I do… anyway are you coming with me to help the Kyuubi?"

"Can't. My youthful skills are needed on the wounded. Luckily, there were no fatalities to either side. If we had killed a single dragon, even if they are exiles, chances are the Ryuu clan would attack us again. But, if you announce that you need help to some of your sister's friends, I am sure they would help you."

"What gives you that idea?"

"Just a hunch."

Loki shrugged and walked up to his sister who was talking with some of the other alpha females. The skulk of vixen was chatting and then would burst out into giggles in random intervals, scaring poor Loki. "Excuse me, Shiroko-nee-chan, you said you would help me with Kyuubi-san?"

The girls started to stare at the reynard, then one blue fox walked up to him, "You mean that you work for the new Kyuubi? The one Karuko called the most handsome man she has ever seen? With eyes the color of the sky and hair yellow as the sun with streaks of crimson flame? Whose voice could melt the heart of any vixen he chooses? Please take me with you, I must meet him!"

The twenty females in the skulk took up the cry. Poor Loki was surrounded by women that he knew could kick his ass if he denied them the opportunity to meet the new lord-to-be. Every single woman was an alpha, and he had battled some of them in spars, although, and he would never admit it, they soundly kicked his ass.

"Alright, but every one who comes with me must do these seals." He flashed through the hand signs that Kasai taught him.

Once everyone who wanted to go did the seals and the jutsu, which caused a tingling feeling in their lungs, Loki spoke up again, "Once we go to the human world we have to help Kasai-sama. He can take control of the body of the new Kyuubi because the human used up too much chakra. He needs to destroy the top of the largest mountain in the range to save Lord Ookami, who is trapped in it."

He stopped and started to aim his conversation to the vixen that had been given the place of lord after Kasai left, Getsuko. The seemingly thirty year old had appeared in the crowd soon after Loki was talking to the group. She had been the fox Kasai respected most. He had told the clan that she should be leader if anything happened to him. Loki said in a loud clear voice to her, "Ok, now do we have a contact with the ookami clan? Lord Ookami will be free soon, and he should help lead his clan out of the war. We have also discovered that Lady Neko, Lady Hebi, Lord Tanuki, and Lady Same have all been sealed. Lords Kajitori and Ryuu have not been sealed, but they seem to move, meaning that they are insane. They are in the general area of each other, so they might be locked in combat, judging by the amount of chakra they are releasing. Lady Kame seems to also be unsealed and insane, but she doesn't appear to be attacking any human areas. Send word to the other clans to tell them the news, please. If any of them wish to help the new kyuubi locate their Lord, ask that they do the seals I showed you. They protect you from the oxygen."

Getsuko nodded and told the fox, "I will try to talk to the ookami, but I doubt that they will send a person in time. Go free their lord without one. If they believe us we will send one to you." she dashed off to her office to send messengers.

Once the leader was gone, a grey vixen shouted from the crowd, "Who made you lord, one-tail? How do we know you are telling the truth? You are known to be a prankster!"

"This issue is too important to lie about!" Loki roared with fury at being accused. "Once the Kyuubi is strong enough, he will bring the other lords back with him to the demon realm! Those who wish to help me move the mountain, transport to my position." Loki disappeared in a plume of green fire, quickly followed by at least half of the group.

XXX

Hinata hid behind a tree, watching the event unfold in front of her. Shikamaru, Choji, Lee, and Kiba had captured Neji. Lee was holding his arms, and Choji and Kiba held his legs. Neji was struggling valiantly but to no avail. Sakura, Ino and Tenten were also there. Tenten was trying to calm Neji, but he was not cooperating. Sakura and Ino were merely watching.

Shikamaru started to question the Hyuuga. "We know you know why the villagers hate Naruto. Tell us or I will bring out my secret weapon!"

Neji roared "NEVER!"

"Fine, I gave you your chance. Sakura, Ino! Bring out the weapon!"

Neji gasped. The girls brought forth a pair of genuine hair bleach and approached his silky black locks. "NO ANYTHING BUT THAT!"

"If you don't comply, and continue to be troublesome, we will be forced to turn your hair the same color as Ino's…And then cut it (Neji: NOOOO!) ." Shikamaru grinned. "But first…We will put makeup on you!"

The girls also pulled out a kit of makeup. They grabbed a bright red lipstick and purple eye shadow.

Neji screamed in horror but then shouted, "I PROMISED HIM! IT IS MY NINDO! I WILL NOT GIVE UP THAT EASILY!"

Sakura sighed, "Neji, just tell us! We were his friends too!"

Hinata saw red. She stepped out from behind the tree and walked up to the pinkette. She slapped her hard on the face, so hard that Sakura flew sideways. "HOW DARE YOU CALL HIM YOUR FRIEND! WHAT DID YOU EVER DO TO ACHIEVE THAT TITLE? Naruto talked to me before he left. He told me everything he had been through, from his life as a child to the S-Rank missions. You have never done anything to deserve the title of 'friend!' You ignored him in the academy, you didn't help him in the test your sensei gave you, you only offered your food to him after Sasuke did, you didn't help with any of the ninja in the wave, you ran to Sasuke when he was knocked out by that Kiri missing nin, even though Naruto was also knocked out, and that is only the first few offenses! In the chunin exam, you couldn't tell between a disguised enemy and the real Naruto. You didn't help at all in the fight against Orochimaru, you are a pitiful excuse for a konoichi. Neji told me about the forest and the Sound-nins, you did absolutely nothing to defeat them. You cut your hair and therefore you admitted that you are worthless and self-centered, at least I can give you that. You fight horribly in the preliminaries, that goes for you too Ino, and only do basic Taijutsu, and you expect that you will be a help to the army of Konoha? More like a hindrance! WE ARE AT WAR! There is no room for girls who ignore their teammates and pay more attention to their looks than their skills in a battlefield. YOU WILL BE KILLED IN A MATTER OF MINUTES! Oh and did I mention thanking the traitor for saving you from the sand ninja? That was something Naruto did, not the _beloved Uchiha. _

"You want to know why he is hated? You don't deserve to know. Shikamaru, Choji, Lee, Tenten, Kiba, you can release my cousin. I will tell you why. If Ino or Sakura follows us, there will be a new meaning of the word pain."

Hinata turned around and stormed off to the bridge that Naruto's team normally met on, not looking back. She was so filled with emotion that she cried when she got to the bridge. When the others arrived, about ten minutes later, Neji also coming along, they saw a new Hinata. She had more confidence and although her face was splotchy like she had been crying, she looked like a leader. She spoke out loud without a stutter, "Alright. First does anyone know Naruto's birthday?"

Everyone looked confused but surprisingly no one knew what it was. Shikamaru asked, "What does his birthday have to do with this troublesome secret."

"Shut up and don't interrupt!" Hinata barked at the boy, silencing him immediately, and honestly scaring him.

"His birthday is the tenth of October. Does the date sound familiar?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"That's one who figured it out. Seems like the others haven't linked it together yet. Has there ever been a human who killed a demon?"

Tenten nearly choked, "You mean to tell me the kyuubi is not dead?"

Hinata laughed, "No he is dead… or sort of dead… well he cant hurt... no that isn't true either…Well I will let you figure that out. One last hint. The fourth was a master at sealing."

Kiba, Lee, and Choji still had blank looks on their faces. Tenten's eyes were as wide as Shikamaru's.

Hinata sighed, they couldn't make it easy on her. "Naruto was born on the same day the Kyuubi attacked. The Fourth Hokage and the shinobi couldn't hold it off. The only option was to seal it inside a human vessel. The beast couldn't be held in an adult because their chakra coils were already formed and the demonic chakra would erode its way out. The only choice was to seal it inside a newborn child; Naruto. The hokage gave his life to seal the fox, making a pact with the death god. His last wish was that everyone would see Naruto as their hero, but it was a fool's dream. The villagers wanted to kill Naruto, saying that by killing the vessel, they would also kill the beast. The Third hokage made a law that anyone who spoke of the true story would be sentenced to treason. As if that would help! Naruto had multiple assassination attempts on his life. He told me he lost count at forty. Do you understand why he didn't tell you?"

Tenten was in tears, Kiba and Choji were shell-shocked, and Shikamaru had fallen onto his knees and was holding his head in his hands. Lee was also crying. "Naruto had fought a brave and youthful battle!!!"

"I cant believe he had put up with all of that hatred all those years…and I also acted like that…"Kiba said, his voice full of regret. Akamaru whined from his side.

Choji had abandoned his snacks for staring at the ground, a memorial to Naruto's memory.

Tenten sobbed, "He had just visited our shop the other day! I was wondering why he had looked so sad when he left."

Hinata sighed, like a mountain of weight had fallen off of her shoulders. She left the group in silence and walked back to her home. When she got to her room, a tiny light purple fox kit with a single tail, even smaller than Naruto's last summon, Loki, was sleeping on her desk. He had the cutest green collar on and was about the size of a kunai. A bright orange scroll was next to him and a bright red and white flower was wrapped around it.

She examined the flower and admired its beauty. She had never seen another like it. She quickly pressed it into her collection. Hinata grabbed the scroll and started to read the letter from Naruto. He gave vivid details of his journey and he explained that the fox could contact him at any time. Its name was Kana, and she had agreed to be Hinata's personal companion while Naruto was gone.

"Ano…Konichiwa Kana-chan." Hinata greeted the kit. The fox looked up with big curious green eyes.

"Are you Hinata-sama?" She said in a cute chibi voice.

"Kawai!!!" Hinata picked up the kit and squeezed her gently and scratched her tiny head. The fox purred in happiness. Hinata Kept the fox in her lap and started a letter to Naruto.

XXX

A group of about twenty kitsune in a half human half animal form appeared in the middle of the desert in a vast cloud of green and blue fire. This caused a passing Iwa-nin to faint and a passing giant rock lizard ate him.

Most of the foxes were female except for Loki, who was in front of the group. He was standing next to Naruto's comatose body, which was the center of attention.

"**He is better than I had hoped!" **One vixen shouted

"**Look at his face, he is so handsome!"**

"**His fur is such a gorgeous color!"**

"**He is so tall!"**

"**Is that a tan? He seems to like the outdoors."**

"**I love those katana! Maybe he can teach me to use them?"**

"**I hope he isn't tame like those other humans."**

"**Where are his tails?"**

"**Does he like brunettes?" **

"**No way, blondes have to stick together**!"

Before a fight could break out, Loki shouted over the din, "**Okay ladies! We have to get him to the top of the tallest mountain so that the old Kyuubi, who is sealed inside of this one, can free the Lord Ookami."**

A bright fuchsia fox in the front grabbed the comatose boy and shouted, **"I call carrying him to the mountain!"**

The others responded with a resounding, "**OVER MY DEAD BODY**!"

"**First one to get him there wins a date**!" A certain prankster shouted to make things more interesting.

The chase was on. Loki sighed at their passion-driven idiocy. He transported himself to the top of the mountain in a flash of green fire.

The fuchsia fox was forced to give up the boy by a kick to the knee from a lime colored vixen. She eventually fell into a pit and a brown fox took Naruto. The brown fox was lassoed by a chakra-coated rope and forced to give up to a black vixen. This continued for a long while, at one point Naruto had almost woken up, but was knocked out again by a stray rock. When the group finally managed to reach Loki, he was reading a scroll on a armchair carved out of rock on the top of the mountain. To his surprise, the vixen who won was his sister. She looked triumphant and whispered to Loki; " **Your boss owes me a date later." **

The numbers of vixen had dropped down to about ten. The defeated ones had been sent back to the demon world, much to their chagrin when they woke up. Loki took his boss out of his sister's arms, giving her a glare. He put him onto the ground and sent a chakra current through his body to signal Kasai.

Naruto's body glowed red for a few seconds and then the assembled kitsune gasped as a seizure ripped through the boy's body. There was a giant flash of light and a huge ripping sound. When the dust and light subsided, Naruto's hair was completely red, his now opened eyes were red with silted pupils, and he had nine tails made out of chakra flowing behind him. He was couched on one knee and was studying the surrounding crowd.

He smirked at the vixen, his teeth and fangs showing, "**I see you have done your job well, Loki. Attention everyone! I have a limited amount of time in control of this body and although I would like to hear how the village is doing, I need everyone to spread out in a circle around the base of the mountain and start gathering chakra for a massive destruction jutsu, preferably Demonic Earth Wave (7) if you know it. Try to move the wall of earth away from the mountain, we don't want to hurt Koori-san. Chances are he will attack as soon as he hits the air, so I will be getting the jutsu ready. It is a lot longer than the one I made you do so only move the earth when I tell you."**

The vixens stopped drooling long enough to listen to the directions and they spread out as fast as they could.

The mountain looked as if a ring of red fire as the foxes surrounded it and gathered their demonic chakra. Kasai glowed in a red and blue swirl as Naruto's human chakra clashed with the demonic, but never mixed. He had flashed through fifty of the hundred signs and he shouted "**NOW!"**

Instantly, eleven waves of earth flowed from the mountain and crashed into the surrounding ones, leaving a giant crater with a giant silver wolf with six tails crouched and ready to attack. Its eyes glowed eerie silver blue and it howled in mad fury. Kasai finished the last seal and shouted, "**DEMONIC AIR SEAL JUTSU!" **

A giant blast of red and blue energy slammed into the wolf, making it howl in pain. The beast started to shrink and its howl grew into a wail and its wail to a whimper and then the beast was normal size and it collapsed. The vixens rushed up to make sure the respected lord was all right. He was asleep near Kasai's feet, who seemed to be wobbling from chakra loss. Then a flash of blue lit up the area. Naruto had lost the demonic features and was sleeping soundly near the wolf.

Loki walked up to the group and looked around. He addressd the worried women with a clear voice, "**I think these guys deserve a break don't you think?"**

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_**(1) Yes Naruto invented this at the same time as Sexy no jutsu. Remember Jiraiya falling for it? **_

_**(2) This is from Julius Cesar **_

_**(3) Boys beware, us women can use this at any point and time.**_

_**(4) Sound like anyone? Oh and demon foxes can be any color.**_

_**(5) If you have not figured out whom I modeled Saga after by now, buy a sense of humor.**_

_**(6) I forgot to mention, demons have a different lifespan then humans, when they say 2,000 years, it is more like 20,000 human years. **_

_**(7)Translating the jutsus into Japanese takes too much time and most of the time no one knows what it means, so I am going to write all of the names of the unique jutsus I create in English.**_

_**AGE CHART**_

_**Kasai is about 25,000 human years old, but looks around 18ish (the other biju are also this old)**_

_**Getsuko is about 35,000 human years old but looks 30ish**_

_**Loki is about 14,000 human years old but looks around 15 (he still is considered a kit because he is not 15,000)**_

_**Saga is the same as Loki**_

_**Shiroko is 16,000 human years old but looks 17**_

_**Time flows the same in both realms so there are not any annoying time/space paradoxes, I am not a good enough writer to make that work, its just demons age slower than humans. Naruto is currently mostly human, so right now he will age at around the normal rate, possibly a bit faster because Kasai interferes. At around age 16 his body will be more demon like and his ageing rate will slow down. **_

_**If you didn't catch how the demons are ranked:**_

_**Grunt is like an academy student (green)**_

_**Clan member is a villager (blue)**_

_**Warrior is like a gennin (red)**_

_**Knight is chunin (silver)**_

_**Alpha is jonin (black)**_

_**Guard is ANBU (white)**_

_**Lord is Kage (gold)**_

_**Anyone get the joke that Naruto must be a Lord, AKA Kage in the demon realm?**_

_**That has to be the longest Author Note I have written. If you read all that, I thank you**_


	7. prophecy, Iwa, Koori, the Nine

_**I apologize sincerely for last chapter's OOCness. My computer shut off three times while I wrote that and erased everything I wrote. I forgot a lot of the details and the chapter suffered for it. This next chapter has quite a few twists in it and I want to add that all of the new characters will have a massive impact on Naruto's life. My personal favorites, Light and Dark, will be appearing a lot, although not always outside Naruto's head. I am giving Naruto a lot of his powers in this chapter and I apologize if it seemed rushed. I thought of it as him "remembering" the abilities from Kasai's memories. Also A list of people from the prophesy will be on my profile after the next chapter is out, I want people to try to guess! **_

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 7

"talking"

"**demon"**

"_Thought speak"_

'_thought'_

"_Light"_

"**Dark"**

XXXXXXX

Naruto woke up with a monster headache and found himself laying in his sleeping bag in the tent that he packed. "Hey Loki…Did you set up the tent while I was asleep?"

Kasai spoke up before his container could get up, "**okay here is what you missed…While you were knocked out, I could take control of your body-DON'T GET MAD! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! And I knew that you wouldn't be able to remove the mountain that incased Koori, so I asked Loki to gather up a few friends to help move it while I did the jutsu to keep him sane and now they wont leave. Apparently, your new body is very attractive to women… Lets just say you now have a fanclub of twenty. Oh and youoweLoki'ssisteradate." Kasai quickly whispered, hoping he wouldn't catch it.**

"_WHAT????? Ok…I can try to explain that to Hinata, or I can tell the she-fox-"_

"**vixen"**

"_right, vixen, that I am already taken."_

"**Not a good idea. They will just try to convert you to polygamy. (1)"**

"_What is polygamy?"_

"**Tell you later…"**

"_Alright, I am going to find Loki and sort out this mess… By the way, how is Koori feeling?"_

"**He passed out right before I did. I am not sure."**

Naruto stood up and stretched out all of his muscles. He had probably been asleep for a few days, judging by the amount of sunlight in the tent. He was surprised to find that someone had taken off his jacket and shirt, leaving him with a bare chest, but luckily they left his baggy black pants on him.

Suddenly his head filled with at least a hundred curses in various demonic and human languages, "**KAMI FUCKING DAMN IT KUSO SHIT YOU BASTARDIC FUCKTARD I FRIGGEN HATE ALL THAT HYUUGA SHIT THIS IS A FUCKING DISASTER- MOTHER FUCKING DICKTARD OF A BITCH…" **and continuing along those lines until Naruto felt as if he was internally bleeding.

'_Is bastardic a word?' _Naruto thought through the haze of foul language.

"_Kasai…If your mother heard you…wait do demons have mothers?"_

Kasai stopped cursing for a few seconds, "**Yes we do, and she has worse language then I do. Who do you think I got it from?" **

"_Please explain the disaster you were cursing about?"_

"**do I have to? I like still having my life."**

"_Yes. I should know the reason why my mind was assaulted."_

"**When I forced control of your mind, my powers kind of back-lashed against the seal, causing my chakra to be absorbed at a faster rate. In other words, you and I were supposed to partially combine when you turned sixteen…after the backlash, we combined three years ahead of schedule. You wont be able to heal as fast as a result, until you are able to control at least four tails. Other limitations are also set. The good news is your chakra and mine have mixed so now it is a pretty purple!"**

"_Are you sure you aren't female?"_

"**Shut up I am trying to make this easier on you. By the way, you should thank me. If I didn't do those changes to your body earlier, you would have popped like a zit!" **

"_Eww…"_

"**okay, now do not freak out about the next part or your fanclub will realize you are awake."**

"_That would not be good…okay I am ready."_

"**Turn around."** Kasai braced himself.

Naruto slowly turned his head and saw that he had grown nine bright yellow tails, each hair having a red tip, making the fur look almost orange but not quite. They were amazingly strong and could lift over ten thousand pounds. They were about two feet long, could extend, and the fur was softer than a rabbit's, but could harden into needle like spikes if need be.

Unfortunately, these facts did not break through the mental block in Naruto's head, which was;_ I HAVE TAILS_!

It took a second, but Naruto managed to fall to his knees in shock. This was unfortunate because his knee landed painfully on the largest scroll he had ever seen, and amazingly missed earlier. A bit of cursing and holding his knee in pain brought him out of his stun and managed to get his thoughts off his tails. It had Tsunade's gambling logo on it.

"_I sent that scroll to Tsunade at least a week ago! What could have happened in a week that could make her write so much?"_

He sighed and was thinking about picking it up, but a tail shot out and wrapped around it, lifting it up easily. The tail and the others seemed to have minds of their own but still followed the basic thoughts of Naruto. This would have fascinated Naruto, if he was not… well, Naruto. He stared in horror at the fact that he didn't even control the tail, and started to foam at the mouth and have a mental breakdown at the same time. He fell onto the floor of the tent in a stunned stupor, a heavy scroll on top of him, and his tails had put themselves under his head so the fall wouldn't knock him out again.

After a few minutes of incoherent babbling, Kasai became bored and decided that he should wake the boy up.

"**I don't know why you are making such a fuss over it. Tails are the most useful appendages in a demon's arsenal. Imagine being able to throw weapons and do seals at the same time! You would have a massive advantage over human shinobi, just think how jealous Sasuke would be if he knew how strong you are getting!" **Kasai said in a sly voice, hitting a topic that he knew would change Naruto's mind.

"_I don't care about that bastard. He ruined my life and he can wither and die as Orochimaru's body_." Naruto thought-spoke back, sitting up and pushing the scroll off

"**I can read your emotions in here. You still haven't given up hope on him. Do you even understand why he wanted more power?"**

"_To kill his brother…wait…. THAT'S IT!" _Naruto figured out what he thought Kasai was leading him to. "_If I kill his brother for him or make Sasuke not_ _have to kill him, then he should ditch Orochimaru and come back to the good side!"_

"**But then he would just go after you for destroying his life's ambition. His entire life has been centered around the idea of killing his brother. If you take that away, what does he have to live for? The poor guy desperately needs a girlfriend."**

"_So you want me to find Sasuke a girlfriend and then kill his brother?"_

"**You really are dense aren't you?" **Kasai sighed. He walked into Naruto's head and once again tried to find his missing intellect, to no avail.

"**You killing Sasuke's brother is not a good way to regain your friend's sanity. If anything it will throw him over the edge. Also, I hate to break it to you, but no amount of training or curses will give him the power to defeat his elder brother. He might be able to still be alive after a fight if he achieves the Mangekyo, but he can never win. The burning question for you is, if you, anyone else, or Sasuke can't kill him, what can you do?" **

"_I'm thinking…"_

"**Don't hurt yourself."**

"_Owww…my brain hurts."_

"**Warned you."**

"_Well, I can't think of anything now. How about we go see how koori is doing then read that scroll?"_

"**Fine, but you might want to put on a shirt. Vixens are not very attractive when they have nosebleeds. Oh and bring your pack with you. There is something in there that Koori will like."**

Naruto did as he was told, although he was confused. He looked around the large tent and then did a double check in his pack and was surprised to find, he was missing three of his favorite pairs of boxers. The ones with little foxes on them, the frog pair, and the one with hearts were all gone. In their place were at least twenty addresses and phone numbers, all from the demon realm.

"**Damn, Kit, you beat my record…" **Kasai groaned.

Shocked but smug, Naruto walked out of the tent and was amazed at the complexity of the camp that was set up. The crater that was caused by the demons had been converted into a small campsite for the mob.

What amazed him most was the shape of most of the foxes. They all looked like they were half human! They walked upright like humans, but they had heads like foxes and were covered in fur. They wore clothes like humans but they seemed to have an extra joint on their legs. The legs extended from a normal thigh to a backward and upturned calf, then went down in a kind of elongated foot like segment, then ended in a paw with wicked looking claws.

Kasai explained, "**That is the anthropomorphic form I told you about. It is for mostly hunting and battling. They most likely think that you need to be protected from other humans so they are in a form that most humans wouldn't go near. You might be able to turn into this, soon."**

Three vixens were managing twelve cooking spits, each with a large boar on it. They had found a small forest in one of the valleys and it was stocked with wildlife. Other foxes were most likely out hunting.

There was a small blood painted sealing circle that was being painted by two vixens, who seemed to be seal masters. Kasai told Naruto that it was for transporting other demons, such as the wolf ambassadors, to and from the human world, without needing the air jutsu. The rest of the foxes were doing other assorted jobs, like getting firewood or hunting, or having meetings of Naruto's fan clubs, of which there were now five.

Loki seemed to be having fun playing poker with four of the women. What made Naruto confused was that they were sticking to a vertical slab of rock using only chakra and the cards were also stuck. A horizontal game of cards became a very vigorous chakra control training exercise. Loki noticed the boy first and although Naruto waved his arms in a futile attempt to keep the fox from saying anything, Loki shouted, **"Hey boss! Want in? Only fifty ryou!"**

This caused every vixen in the area to squeal and head over to the boy for autographs and "souvenirs" like a lock of ripped out hair. Naruto quickly swapped possessions with Loki, (_REVENGE!) _and sprinted away to the edge of the crater and into the valley, the vixens on his tail. He managed to hide in a cave before they caught up and he blocked the door.

"**Kit, running away from your problems solves nothing."**

"_But it keeps my loyal to my girlfriend! And I think fangirls are an exception to that piece of advice! But now I am stuck in a pitch-black cave with fox demons chasing after me. Got any ideas?"_

"**Get a light? You are a demon now, or more so than a human. Try using foxfire. No seals required just do what seems natural and let the chakra flow through your fingertips."**

Naruto concentrated and felt a warmth in his hand. Then a glow appeared and then… his chakra exploded and sent him backward and into the cave wall with the force of one on Tsunade's punches. His tails blocked most of the blow but a tiny crack was still heard.

"**NO NO NO! WRONG! DO IT AGAIN AND THIS TIME DON'T FORCE IT!"**

Naruto got up and prayed that a broken vertebrae would heal fast. He tried again and the chakra glowed in his hand. A purple sphere appeared and glowed brightly, looking like a less chaotic Rasengan. Naruto almost cheered in success when Kasai said, **"Pretty, but WRONG! FIRE NOT AN ORB!"**

The ball exploded into glowing shrapnel that Naruto barely dodged. One of his tails got hit and started to burn with purple fire. Naruto whirled his head around to see that the purple fire was quickly doused by a small glob of water that came out of the slightly droopy tail itself! This shocked Naruto onto the ground again. "_Kasai…why did my tail spontaneously create water?"_

"**Did you want a burnt back?" **

"_No, but why would it use water… foxes use fire right?"_

"**Kitsune may use all elements! We are not tethered to affinities like the other lords! Every tail on your butt represents a different element! All kitsune may use this power when they can control it, you included. Your natural affinity is wind, so you most likely can control the power within the tail of the wind element. **

**There is a tail for fire, wind, lightning, earth, water, light, dark, heavenly, and hellish chakra. Before you ask, heavenly chakra heals or creates things, such as plants, and hellish chakra is a tool for destruction or taking things away, light and dark chakra are risky, each time you use them, your body is basically taken over by the good or bad inside of you. They are immensely powerful, but you should only use them in times of dire need. If you use it too much you may never be able to come back to control it."**

"_Why is letting my good self take over a bad thing?"_

"**Well…lets just say good has a twisted sense of justice. An eye for an eye, if you will… for instance…He would take Orochimaru and rip out his soul and do every type of experiment that the bastard had done to others onto the snake sannin, _while he was still alive. _He would be able to induce so much pain onto the man that his _soul _wouldn't be alive but his body was, hence an empty vessel. Nasty thing, light, if he wants to be. Oh, and the light side of you…would be more powerful than most humans. Only you could ever control it, not even I could stop the light if it takes over."**

Naruto shivered at the idea.

"**back on task… try the fox fire again."**

Naruto was too distracted to concentrate on the fire. He held out his hand and didn't really think of it, and to his surprise, a purple flame engulfed his arm up to his elbow like a gauntlet.

"**PERFECT! Now try throwing the fire into the rock."**

Naruto swung his arm and fire shot out in blasts. He found it much easier to control when he figured out the trick of it. The fire turned bright and lit up the cave like lanterns.

"**Ok. Now that you have your first elemental attack, we can try transporting later. Right now I want you to create nine bushin and make them fight you. But you can only use your tails and foxfire."**

Naruto did as he was told and to his surprise, his bushin looked a bit…odd. The first one had yellow hair, sticking up like it was put into an electrical socket. He had a huge grin on and seemed to be vibrating. He wore a T-shirt and loose jeans and sneakers. Also, Naruto's old goggles adorned his face. If he opened his eyes form the fox like-squint, you would see he had bright yellow eyes. He ran up and grabbed Naruto's hand and shook it super fast.

"HimynameisEnergy!Iamyoursenseofhappinessandfun!Ilikegoingfastandthecoloryellow! Myelementislightning!IusefuntwinbladesthatarecurvedtochopupanythingwhenIspin!" he spoke so fast Naruto could barely understand him.

The next clone was grey. His clothes were also grey and seemed to be a baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants. His hair was flat and dull grey and so were his eyes. He walked up to Naruto and started to cry. "I am sorry! You must hate me! I am your sadness and my life is awful! I don't like anything and you don't want to like me. I should just die and make everyone a bit happier. Who needs me and my element of water anyway? I mean, all I can do is use a stupid war hammer! What good is that?" The clone walked off to a corner of the room to contemplate suicide. Naruto was becoming really freaked out now.

A blue clone stepped up wearing blue pajamas and Naruto's hippo nightcap. He had major bed head and had sleepy blue eyes. He yawned constantly and spoke with a sleepy drawl, "Yo…I am laziness…Uh…I use wind and stuff… I like clouds and sleeping…oh and I can use a staff…Oh yeah,,, and I can turn invisible when I want"

The clone wobbled away and fell asleep on the ground and faded out of sight.

The next clone looked kind of like a brown Sasuke. He wore all brown clothes and his eyes were brown too. His hair was in the same chicken-like style. His face seemed emotionless. "I am your stoic self. I don't like or dislike anything. I use windmill shiruken. I use rock, earth, and sand. I do not have emotions."

Naruto looked at the clone with perplexity. "Why do you look like Sasuke?"

"Your subconscious makes us look like we do. You envision Sasuke as a person with no emotions, and so I look like him." An awkward silence followed.

The clone was creeping Naruto out. Luckily it was pushed aside by a clone in red armor. His eyes eye a blood red, darker than Naruto's demon eyes, and his arms seemed to be engulfed in flames. He complained, "That bastard should not get in my way." Then looked at Naruto with a glare, "So you finally called us out? Took you long enough. We were stuck in the recesses of your filthy wet mind for AGES! As you can guess, I am anger. There is no way I am bowing to a weakling like you. I use fire and I will toast your ass if you even think of calling me a hothead. Trust me I will skewer you with my claymore if you try anything funny. Only call me up for a challenge, do NOT waste my time. Oh and if you value your sense of happiness, don't put me anywhere near him. That guy is the most annoying thing on the face of the Earth and beyond." The red armored clone stomped off in a huff.

Another clone in a tuxedo walked up past the pissed off persona and stuck his tongue out at the red ones back. The red fire clone flicked a fireball at the flashy copy and the over perfumed man had to duck to avoid being scorched. The man's hair was pink and styled immensely and he was carrying a bouquet of roses. He wore strong but interesting cologne. The clone bowed low with flair, "Excuse me sir. I am your sense of romance. I control heavenly chakra and I mainly use plants. I have a whip as my main weapon. Now if you may excuse me I wish to meet all of those lovely women outside. I must bid you adieu."

He looked Naruto in the eyes and the boy was shocked to see that the man's eyes were pink and heart shaped. Naruto registered what the emotion was and shouted, "Oh No! You are my inner pervert!"

The clone chuckled, "I am no mere pervert, I am an ultra pervert." He tried to make a break for it but the next clone grabbed his coattails and introduced him to the floor.

"I apologize sincerely for my accomplices vulgar tendencies. I am your sense of vanity and I use hellish chakra. I use projectile fans with blades as my main artillery and I also can cause chaos in an area almost instantly if you wish, master. I use poisons, can break up relationships, betray people, and many other entertaining things for your amusement. I can play with other's emotions and cause them to envy you or adore you. I can also change my appearance at will."

The clone wore a vastly decorated battle green kimono and wooden sandals. His hair was in a multilayer bun with chopsticks. The man wore two small fans on his hips. His eyes were an emerald green and seemed like they could make anyone burn with jealousy. The clone bowed low and dragged the conked out pervert over into a corner. Naruto counted on his fingers, '_that is only seven, where are the other two?'_

"_A little help here master?"_ A deep reverberating but bright voice called.

"**Yes, help me Naruto-sama. Together we can overcome this annoying side and we can rule both worlds!" ** Another deep, but sinister voice shouted from behind the boy.

Two spirits, one with bright blue/white wings of light and a flowing mane of white hair, and another with spiky black long hair and lengthy, blade like claws, and pure black bat like wings, were locked in a fierce grip. The white spirit had pure white/blue glowing eyes with no pupils or irises, and the black had void like holes where his eyes should have been.

"_Do not listen to the dark one! Help me and together we will purify this world from his kind and the ones who destroyed your life! We shall return to your village and destroy the evil ones who couldn't see that you were a hero!"_

"**Why stop there? Join me and we shall take over the entire world! Imagine everyone worshiping you as the supreme kage! You would have armies of demons in your command! No one would be able to oppose you!"**

"_What about your precious people? We would protect them together and keep them from harm! We could keep them safe next to you and never let them get into danger!"_

"**Who needs saps like those? Where were they when you needed them? Why haven't they all helped you take back Sasuke?"**

"**_JOIN ME" _**the two sides said in chorus.

Naruto looked at the two and held his head in his hands trying to choose. The voices shouted at him from all angles, confusing him and making it hard to think. He did the only thing he could think of, and he shouted "KAI!"

The two spirits gave one last glare at each other then burst into smoke.

XXX

Inside Naruto's mindscape, Kasai watched as two separate doors materialized in the field. Each had a half of a yingyang on it, and one was black and the other was white.

Kasai sighed, "Why do I get the feeling that this place is going to get even more crowded?"

Right after he spoke, seven more doors, each representing each of the clones, each a different color, popped up, in arrow behind the two first doors.

Kasai cursed under his breath in annoyance.

XXX

Far away in a small house in Konoha, a girl with pink hair wept openly and loudly. Outside of her door, a blond girl waited with her back against the wall.

"Sakura, I know you are upset, hell I am too, but you shouldn't cry for this long. It wont help solve anything. Hinata's speech about being worthy hurt me too, but I am not crying abut it."

"(hic) if it was not Hinata (sniff sob) I wouldn't be crying! (blubber) If you or even if Naru(hic)to told me the same (sob) thing, it wouldn't make a dent in me. But Hinata, (sniff, nose blown) isn't the type to say something if she didn't mean it. (snort cough) She only tells (nose blown again) the truth!"

Ino sighed and slid down the wall and into a sitting position. Ino sighed and side back to the pinkette, "What still bugs me is that she thought that I was so similar to you that I didn't deserve to be Naruto's friend either. I mean, she broke up the Inoshikacho trio! She told Shikamaru and Choji, but didn't even consider me?"

"I guess (hic) she thought that they were worthy as a (snort) friend because they risked their lives to get (sob hic and wail) Sasuke back. She is right! I am a lousy konoichi!"

Ino pounded her head against the wall in aggravation, "Crying won't help you be a better Konoichi. If one of your teammates dies in front of you on the battlefield, will you stop and cry and mourn, even when another shinobi is about to kill you? Of course not, you would have to fight harder and stronger to honor their memory. When Sasuke looked like he had died, did Naruto stop fighting? No, he fought even harder and ended up beating that enemy."

"(hic) I guess you are right…but how can I improve myself? (hic)"

"Follow Naruto's example. Train until you pass out. We will fight this battle together, alright, partner? How about we ask Tsunade as soon as you calm down, okay?"

"(sniff) Okay."

Sakura pulled back the sliding door and hugged Ino. The girls cried together to strengthen their promise. "Thanks, Ino-pig."

"Your welcome, forehead girl."

XXX

Naruto panted in exhaustion. The bushin took up more chakra than normal and Kasai's complaining about lack of space further shortened the boy's nerve.

"**The colors clash awfully with the green of the fields, The iron doors are too big and are an eyesore and they are right in the middle of where I was going to put a lake!"**

Kasai ranted.

"_shut up SHUT UP **SHUT UP!" **_Naruto though back in annoyance, and to the fox lord's surprise, the field burst into flames, which quickly died out after Kasai stopped talking, leaving a very black wasteland. Unfortunately, in Kasai's opinion, it left the doors untouched.

"_Thank you." _Naruto said in response to Kasai's stunned silence.

"**It took me weeks to design that field!" **Kasai said in anguish. He started to cry for the loss of greenery.

"_Serves you right. I'll fix it later. Think those girls are gone?" _

"**Hopefully_"_**

Naruto rolled back the boulder he used as a door and looked around. There wasn't a vixen in sight. He sighed in relief then headed back to camp. When he arrived there, Loki was crouched over the spits, trying to turn five simultaneously, and failing miserably. Naruto gave him a hand by extending his tails to turn the spits. "_Hey, Kasai, these things are handy!"_

Loki looked back at him with a look of gratitude, "**I have been turning these things all day! No one has been back yet and the boars were burning!"**

"No problem! Has anyone returned?"

"**No but they should be back soon."**

"Oh, I still owe you revenge for sicking those vixens on me, but I think the cooking duty did that for me."

Loki laughed hesitantly. Naruto stopped turning and took the boars, now well done, off of them and put them onto a large table that one of the vixens had brought back from the demon realm, for who knows what reason.

"I am going to go check up on Koori." Naruto said to the now solitaire playing fox, who waved him off.

Naruto located the wolf's tent after a bit of searching. The wolf was sleeping peacefully on his back and seemed to be chasing something in a dream. Naruto snorted at the sight. The wolf wore a gold collar and had bandages around his paws. His fur was a whiteish silver and six tails flowed behind him.

"_Hey Kasai how do I wake him up_?"

"**Ramen."**

Naruto laughed, "_I think I will like this guy!"_

The ramen was placed in front of the wolf's nose and had an instant reaction. The nose twitched, the wolf started to drool, then it woke up with a howl of, "**RAMMMEEENNN!!"**

Naruto sat back and laughed as he watched the lion-size wolf scarf down the bowl of noodles. Ne wolf slowly turned around, silver eyes wide, noodles hanging from his snout and jaws, a stray piece on his nose, which together looked very funny.

Naruto fell back and laughed even harder. The wolf slurped down the noodles, burped, and then started to sniff the boy.

"**Who are you, kid? You smell like Kasai-san, you have his nine tails, but you are part human. What did the idiot do now?"**

Naruto explained the problem of the Kyuubi being sealed into him and the oxygen toxicity. Koori hesitantly waited and wolfed (pun intended) down the ramen. He was shocked at some parts and confused when Naruto told him about the abuse he had suffered as a child, but mostly he felt guilty. "**You own kind hated you because of us? Shit, if I didn't follow Tsume-chan, this whole ordeal could have been avoided. You could have lived a normal life, Kasai wouldn't be just a spirit, the others wouldn't be sealed, our kind wouldn't be at war, kami, what fools we have been. How can I make it up to you, Naruto-sama?" **

"You can start by only calling me Naruto. The sama thing is getting old, especially considering I have never had much respect to begin with."

The wolf gained a grin, "**Gee, Naruto-sama, why in the world, Naruto-sama, would you not like being called Naruto-sama, Naruto-sama? I mean calling you Naruto-sama is a gesture of me respecting you Naruto-sama, even though I am thousands of years older than you, Naruto-sama, you know what I mean, Naruto-sama?" **

Naruto twitched. The wolf lord burst out laughing. He cleared his throat then asked politely, **"Do you mind if I transform? It is getting annoying talking up to you."**

Naruto shrugged and gestured to go ahead. He didn't quite understand why the lord was asking. Sickening popping and crunching sounds filled the room as the wolf's form pulsed and its legs elongated. Naruto tried not to be sick at all of the noises that came with the transformation. Fur fell out and the hair on the wolf's head grew, Nose flattened and skull reformed. The demon leaned back into a crouch and popped his jaw into place. His paws had elongated into clawed hands and feet. He had a human head and body and the only things that would clue you into him being a demon were the six wolf tails and the elongated ears, claws, and fangs. He wore a pair of baggy pants like most shinobi, even though they were black. He also wore a black, long coat in the same style as Ibiki and Naruto, but it didn't have sleeves. On the back, a silver kanji, meaning wolf, was embroidered. He wore an armored silver vest on his chest. His arms had silver color bandages wrapped up to his elbow, and then a tight black sleeves extended underneath the coat and into the armor. His hair was very long and flowed past his shoulders. It was a bit paler than Kakashi's and the same color as the wolf's fur. His glod collar had also stayed in place. On the medallion attached to the collar, a symbol of a fang was etched. He was heavily muscled and looked around twenty.

Naruto was still green from the sight and sound of the transformation. The wolf winced at him sympathetically, "**Sorry, I thought you had seen a transformation before. I would have warned you if I had known. Can you do me a favor?"**

Naruto nodded hesitantly. "What do you need?"

"**Can you get me a glass of water? That ramen was salty!"**

Naruto laughed and fetched a large bucket of water from the large pot outside.

"**Thank you." **Koori said and drank a sip.

The wolf gasped and his eyes turned a milky white. Acting like he was possessed, he took the rest of the water and placed it on the ground in front of him, then he raised his arms and seemed to concentrate. The water rose up from the bucket and started to freeze. The half frozen water mixed into rock and mud pulled up from the ground. They mixed and started to glow an eerie white.

Then forms started to take shape. First a golden fox with nine tails appeared in ice, then other shapes followed, a red fox, a wolf, a snake, a tanuki, a dragon, a phoenix, a turtle, a shark, a cat, a weasel, a fish, a crow, a rat, and a mole. The shapes surrounded the fox in a circle, like they were protecting it. A rabbit, a lion, a frog, a slug, a dolphin, a dog, a seal, a monkey, and a cherry blossom were allowed into the ring and surrounded the fox, creating an inner layer of protection. A cobra, a leopard, and a spider, surrounded a dark cloud that seemed to radiate evil, and tried to attack the rings to get to the fox. Before the outcome of the battle was shown, Koori shouted as if in pain, lost concentration and collapsed. The ice and mud figures collapsed and vanished into the ground.

Naruto stood dumbstruck. He seemed to have witnessed a prophesy of some sort, and it was about him. He figured out the gold fox meant him and the first nine figures represented the other demons and Loki. The weasel, fish, crow, rat, and mole merely confused him. Maybe the mole used dirt as a power and the fish used water? The weasel shouted "Sasuke" because he betrayed Konoha, but that didn't seem right. The crow more suited Sasuke, but then why did the crow protect the fox? The rat baffled him to no end; no one he knew was like a rat. The rabbit was obviously Hinata. She was shy, timid, and kind. The meaning of the lion also confused him. He didn't know anyone who he thought to be noble, strong, courageous, brave, honorable, and would protect anyone except the Third. Maybe it was someone like him? Konohamaru, maybe? But that didn't seem right either. Konohamaru was the monkey. The frog was Jiraiya, the slug, Tsunade, and the cherry blossom, Sakura. The seal, that one seemed more difficult. The dog may be Kakashi, but he didn't seem to be the type to care about protecting him. The dolphin was Iruka, no doubt about that. The enemies were a bit more confusing. The cobra was Orochimaru and the sound, that much he could figure out. The meaning for the others eluded him. (2)

The depth of the prophecy worried Naruto. He seemed to have a lot of trouble in store for him, not just the Sound.

'_Why is it always me? I was an orphan; I was no one important, why does everything seem to happen to me? Why did the Yondaime pick me over the hundreds of other orphans? Why was I chosen to hold the kyuubi?' _Naruto thought with a sigh. Inside his head, Kasai was choking in surprise.

'**He almost figured it out on his own? Did I trip on a switch that turned on his brain?' **he went to retrace his steps to find the mysterious switch.

Naruto picked up the prone form of Koori and brought him out to Loki. The fox jumped in surprise at the change in the wolf.

"**He woke up, transformed then fell asleep again?"**

"No he woke up, I filled him in on the situation, he transformed, took a drink of water, did some weird prophecy with water and mud, then collapsed." Naruto said with a sweatdrop.

"**Oh…I forgot that he was a seer. Sorry, must have slipped my mind!" **Loki said with a nervous laugh.

"Just shut up and help me make some ramen. He seems to only wake with food."

Naruto went to his supplies and took out a packet of instant ramen. Loki was heating up the water to a full boil already. A bit of cooking and some cursing, and the two mediocre cooks made something that sort of resembled a bowl of ramen.

Koori once again awakened to ramen in front of him and proceeded to wolf down his food (ha-ha puny!). He then apologized profusely to Naruto for fainting again and asked if he had a vision.

"You do not remember?"

"**Never do. It is only for the witness's eyes, not mine. Don't tell me what it was, it would most likely only confuse me or alter my fate. I just want to know what I did. Last time I carved up a mountain, which turned to dust when I finished. The time before that I made a giant ice sculpture on the frozen lake in our territory, which melted when my friend saw it."**

" You made moving figures out of ice and mud, which glowed and moved."

"**Aww that is not as interesting. Naruto, I think I made a prophecy for you for a reason. You are destined for big things. You will be going through a lot, and I want to help you succeed. Can I help you train to become the new Lord of Kitsune? You are going to need friends in high places to earn the trust of the other clans."**

"I would be honored if you were to help me learn your culture and train." Naruto said, relieved that he had gained the wolf's trust.

"**Good, then your first lesson for leading a clan is to avoid talking with your elders at all costs, so lets get out of here before my clan ambassadors come, otherwise we will be here forever." **

Naruto laughed, he was liking Koori more and more as time went on. "That is good because my fanclubs are coming back at any moment!"

"**Kami forbid!" **Koori and Loki said in unison.

Naruto laughed at the two, who were already acting like brothers. The trio quickly packed up their stuff and put the food into a scroll, leaving two boars and a note to the vixens.

On the way out, the two full demons were trying to explain how to transform to Naruto.

Loki waved his arms while talking, "**Think of what you want to look like in your mind!"**

Koori added, **"Pull chakra from your core and push it through all pathways."**

"**Then imagine the feeling of running through the forests, setting traps and pranks!"**

"**No think of hunting and sneaking up on your unsuspecting prey!"**

Naruto was getting a headache from the duo. Kasai piped up to, "**Naruto, just try clearing your mind and getting the chakra right. I will supply the mental images."**

The new Kyuubi stopped moving and cleared his head like Kasai told him to. He pushed chakra into his body, trying not to think. Images flooded his brain, hunting, running, powerful jaws clamping onto an enemy, leaping into the air with powerful legs, sneaking up on things, battling for dominance, and many more. His subliminal mind told him something was happening, but Naruto was stuck inside someone else's memories. When he opened his eyes, he could see hundreds of times better. His nose was flooded with different scents. His ears twitched at the sound of the environment. He still stood on two legs but other muscles had appeared in his feet, now an extra joint. His tails felt much more natural now and he could control them easier. He was taller than Loki and Koori but not by much. His ninja sandals did not take the strain of the transformation, unfortunately, and they were reduced to shreds of fabric. His body was covered in soft downy fur, the same yellow and red color as his tails. His demonic blood took over for a bit and added layers of muscle to his body to help control all of the potential in the form.

"Wow, I feel much more comfortable in this form."

Loki smirked, "You should be! You are more demonic than human, so that form reflects the ratio of demonic to human blood in your body. That is probably why you turned into that form instead of a fox." (3)

Koori also grinned, "It will be easier to train you when you are in that form, too. It helps to learn Fang Style Taijutsu when you actually have fangs!"

The wolf lord also transformed to his half wolf form to match the other two. Naruto still flinched at the noise, and his ears had amplified it.

The trio had reached the edge of the mountain range and was unaware that they were approaching the city.

XXX

A few hours ago, inside Iwakagure;

"DEMONS! DEMONS IN THE MOUNTAINS!" A guard burst into the Tsuchikage's office screaming the warning.

The kage stood up from behind his desk, "Demons have not been sighted for years! They are extinct!"

The guard looked even more freaked out, "They walk on two legs and have tails! They wear weapons like us, but have claws and teeth! They look like beastly fox creatures are headed this way!"

The kage sighed, he knew he wouldn't get peace until he did something about it. "Send in a team of genin and the jonin-sensei as a C-rank mission. If demons really are there I will send in the ANBU."

XXX

Naruto, Loki, and Koori stopped in the road. Three genin and a jonin, all wearing Iwa headbands, appeared in front of them, armed with kunai and shiruken. The Jonin was in the front, the genin, who looked like they had just graduated, were behind him.

"Halt foul creatures! What business have you with Iwakagure?" The jonin shouted, his voice wavering as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Koori grinned and stepped up, "**Why do you humans care? We have been traveling from our world to yours for years! I might add, you did seal some of our kin inside of members of your species, for whatever odd reason, but we do not wish to harm you right now. Step aside and we shall be on our way."**

Naruto also approached menacingly, causing the four ninjas to step back. "**Unless you four want trouble. Earlier, your guards attacked one of our brethren on his way to meet us. I admit he did prank your village, but that is no reason to try to capture him, and he swore to not do it again, isn't that right Loki?"**

"**I promised to never _stink bomb_ the village again, I didn't say anything about pranking."**

The four shinobi hesitantly lowered their weapons, more out of disbelief that these three were demons. One even used Kai to try to get rid of genjutsu.

Naruto noticed this and laughed, "**Pesky mortals do not believe that we are demons! Want to prove it to them Koori?"**

The wolf's face split into a grin, "**Of course Naru-sama!"**

The ninjas were back on guard. Koori stepped closer and started to transform into his full wolf form, his fur growing and the sickening popping turning the genin green and pushing the jonin back a step. Naruto didn't flinch at all this time.

When Koori was a full wolf he howled and grew to the size of a horse. His tails glowed white and ice grew around him. The ice grew into an orb in front of the wolf and pulsated and transformed into another wolf. The ice wolf walked up to the jonin and put its front paws onto his shoulders. The jonin tried to slash at the ice, but noticed that the wolf didn't attack. It merely leaned onto the jonin, its claws close to the jugular.

Koori sat down and calmly said, "**I could make it kill you, you know. I could let it slash your throat and my life would be much easier. However that would cause problems when our kind comes to your world. Our purpose is not to annihilate your kind. We do not want war."**

The ice wolf hopped off and melted into the ground. The jonin shaking at the realization of how close to death he had come. The girl genin shook in fear, the boys glaring at the three demons.

Loki stepped up and created some foxfire. It rose up above the genin and transformed into a red flower made of fire. The flower floated down gently and fell into the girl genin's hands. It didn't burn her to her surprise but slowly warmed her hands and gave her a feeling of calmness. The flower was too beautiful for words and kept burning even after the fox stopped controlling it.

Naruto laughed at the other fox, and whispered to him, "**softie!"**

Naruto got an idea and stepped forward and politely talked to the jonin, "**We wish to talk to your Kage about the war in your world. One of our kind is deeply involved in the war and we need to talk to your leader about who he should ally his country with if he wishes to keep from our wrath. Take us to him but we can turn to human if you prefer." **

Before the jonin could argue, all three demons turned into humans. Loki turned into an attractive fifteen year old with orange hair and brilliant green eyes and a basic ninja outfit. Koori turned into the form he was in before, except his tails, ears and teeth were normal. Naruto turned into his normal form and managed to get rid of the tails and ears after guidance from Kasai, but he made it look like it was normal. Naruto also did a minor henge and added a gold collar like Koori's but with a swirl like Loki's.

All three demons were amazingly attractive, although they were unaware of this fact.

The jonin put away his weapons and gestured for the genin to follow. He bowed low and introduced himself, a hint of awe in his voice, "My name is Goru, this is my team, Bako, (the taller boy with brown hair bowed) Kariko, (the pretty, blonde girl bowed) and Harimaru (the green haired boy bowed)."

The three demons slightly bowed their heads in return greeting and introduced themselves.

The girl stepped up and stuttered, "T-thank you for the r-rose, Loki-sama."

Loki grinned, "That flower won't wilt or die out, it is modeled after a flower from my world. A beautiful gift for a beautiful girl."

He took the girl's hand and kissed it. She blushed a vibrant red.

Naruto laughed, "Loki, stop flirting with the locals, we have a mission to do."

The fox in human clothing sighed and let go of the girl's hand, "Hai, Naruto-sama."

He winked at the girl then walked back to the other demons. The two boys glared at the demon's back with either anger or jealousy. Kariko muttered to the other humans, "They do not seem that bad, I think we should trust them for now."

"You just like the fox kid," Bako sneered, "They shouldn't even exist, for all we know they are assassins. We shouldn't bring them to the Kage."

Harimaru looked at Koori with wonder, "I do not think that they are too bad, they could have killed Sensei, but they didn't, and that flower could have been a bomb but it wasn't. I think we should make them remove their weapons but still trust them, maybe keep them under ANBU watch."

Goru nodded, "Wise idea, Hari-kun."

The jonin walked up to the waiting trio and nodded, "We will take you to the kage, but you must agree to remove your weapons and be watched by ANBU. Do you you're your consent?"

Naruto nodded, "But we must be given back all of our weapons after we leave. You will not be able to use them anyway, the demonic blades will reject you."

The three demons emptied their artillery, and to the shinobi's surprise, they wore many weapons. Naruto had two blades, a few packs of kunai and a few shiruken, a few scrolls and a few smoke bombs and exploding notes. Koori had his twin katana, a scythe, two windmill shiruken, some kunai, and a pair of daggers. Loki shyly pulled out a sword, three windmill shiruken, ten kunai, a pack of shiruken, trip wires, smoke bombs, poison gas bombs, stink bombs, exploding notes, scrolls, two gauntlets with poison tipped claws, a flask of poison, daggers, electric kunai, ice balls, bladed boomerangs, a scythe, a mini puppet with blades on the arms, a whip, a staff, a war hammer, and a few other weapons that were too obscure to name.

Naruto's eyes widened, "Shit Loki, were did you keep all of that stuff? Even I didn't know you had that many weapons!"

The Iwa nins looked a bit afraid of the amount of weapons in the growing pile.

Loki pulled out a mini bomb out from between his teeth then said, "Okay that is it. Sorry about that. I am a warrior from the demon realm, and it is at war, too. I need to keep stocked up with weapons."

"How old are you?" The jonin asked hesitantly.

"Human years or demon?"

"Human please."

"Somewhere around 14, 000 or so."

The girl looked shocked and the boys laughed at her.

Naruto shrugged, "We do live longer, after all. In retrospect, if you go by looks and comparison to the other demons, Loki is 14 or 15."

Koori also spoke up, "I read a historical text when I was younger that told of a demoness who married a human. She was somewhere around 25,000 and the human knew about this. She somehow gave him demonic powers and he managed to live close to as long as her. How strange it is that you humans only have a lifespan of ninety years at most."

The boys stopped laughing and the girl's eyes regained their sparkle.

Naruto grinned and whispered in Loki's ear, "Okay you have one fan girl, now I have nineteen more to find for you so I can repay the twenty you gave me."

Loki's eyes widened at the thought.

XXX

Somewhere in the Akatsuki base, a meeting was going on.

"Whose job is going to feed the Hachibi? The girl needs to be broken but it should take some time. You will be excused from all missions until she is done." The leader's voice rumbled down to the awaiting members.

All of the members stepped forward at the opportunity of getting out of missions.

"Barako, you would drain her, and we need her alive. Hidan, that goes for you to. Kakuzu, we need her heart, you can't do it either. Zetsu no eating, and Sasori, puppets count as being dead, you are off the job too." The members who were called stepped back, grumbling.

Tobi, Kisame, Itachi, and Deidara were left.

"Tobi, you need to go shopping, and no mask. Go in henge. Deidara, you go with him and supervise. Think of it as punishment for failing your last mission… Again. Kisame I need you to help locate the Sanbi, the shark. We believe she is in Kiri and we need you to help navigate your old country. If you find her we will watch her for a bit, to wait for the perfect time. Itachi, you are the lucky one. Feed her a rat every two days, starting today. Dismissed!"

The members went back to their quarters to get ready for their respective missions or training. Itachi stopped off to the kitchen and grabbed the bag of dead mice. He shuddered at the thought of a girl eating mice to keep from starving. He grabbed a box of pocky to calm his nerves. He also nonchalantly grabbed two small brown bags, one to put the rats in and the other to put real food in and put the rat bag on top. He also took an apple, a piece of bread, and one of his boxes of pocky and put them in the second bag with a note that said, "Hide it." He then put the bag with a rat on top and closed the opening. He grabbed a cup full of water and carried it to the cell.

He walked through the many corridors of the city the base was in and finally found the cells.

"I brought your food." He said monotone. He looked inside the cell and saw the girl inside the cage. Her hair was long and black, with a dark green tinge. Her eyes were a bright hazel, almost gold. She was very pretty, and was dressed in a fancy kimono, now scuffed and battered.

"Who are you? Your not the bloodsucking bitch who captured me, nor the annoying boy with the mask, or the one with a black and white face that looked at me like I was a piece of meat. You also do not look like the polite blond one who chatted with me about art."

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. It is my job to feed you from now on. Here is your food."

Itachi slid the tray with the water and the brown bag into the cage. The girl looked at it for a second then dragged the tray closer. She drank a sip of the water. "Itachi-san…Do you like to gamble?"

"It depends on what is at stake. I gambled on the fact that my brother would not go insane like the rest of the clan and I lost that bet. I also lost the chance to see the girl I love ever again. (4)" Itachi said, not knowing why he was even telling the girl that. She just seemed so easy to talk to.

"There is definitely a story there. Tell it to me sometime. I am Noriko."

Itachi smirked, "You don't seem very upset that you are captured."

"Yay, I made the brick wall show emotion! I was kept from becoming a ninja for fear of what I hold, everyone in the village was afraid of me. Compared to that, this life is an improvement. Except the cuisine sucks." She glanced at the rat in the bag.

Itachi smirked. "I need to get back to work. Enjoy the food." He left in a swirl of leaves.

The girl picked up the bag and noticed it was too heavy for just one rat. She looked into the bag and discovered the second one. She held up the note and the box of pocky and smirked. "You are an interesting guy, Uchiha Itachi, very interesting."

XXX

Naruto and the other demons were lead through the city to the Tsuchikage's tower. The genin had left to train. Their guide was refusing to speak to them. Earlier, Loki had tried to get him to loosen up by asking him, "Is there anyone that you don't like who I can eat? I am _starving_!"

Goru didn't have much of a sense of humor. By the time they had reached the tower, Loki had plotted fifteen different pranks he could pull on the jonin. Naruto had stopped most of the ones he had attempted to pull but the guy's house would probably smell like rotten eggs from the timed bomb that the fox had planted in his kunai pouch.

The three demons were escorted into the office waiting room and told to stay and wait for the Kage to finish up a meeting.

After an hour of waiting, and twenty-six pranks, the trio was ushered in.

The Tsuchikage was an old man, around the Third's age, with grey hair, but unlike the third, he seemed to be pretty tall. The three demons bowed in unison to the Kage who then ushered them into three seats.

"So, my secretary tells me that you three are ambassadors to a foreign country and you are here to give me advice on making allies, right?"

The demons stared then burst out laughing, confusing the Kage.

Naruto spoke up first, "Sorry, Tsuchikage-sama, but we are not from a foreign country. Its more of a foreign world!"

The Kage looked skeptical. "Are you the demons that my guard was warning me about? Sorry, but, you don't look very demonic."

Koori and Loki transformed into their anthropomorphic form.

"Oh…my mistake." The kage coughed, green from the sound, "So why does the demon world want to get into our war?"

Naruto took over and told a lengthy, and mostly made up, story about a debt that the demons owe Konoha because one of their ninjas, Orochimaru, had killed a demon princess and in rage the Lord of Demons, also the princess's father, attacked Konoha in rage, not knowing that Orochimaru was evil and framed the village for that exact purpose. The demon realm found out later from the vessel of the demon lord and therefore felt that they owed Konoha and had a grudge against the Sound. (4)

The Tsuchikage accepted this wild story, mainly because his common sense had been proven wrong on many occasions today. Demons do not exist, Demons are bloodthirsty beasts, and demons do not act like humans, his list of "things that were once true but now aren't" went on for quite a while.

"Alright, I will consult my council. We have been discussing the approaching war for weeks now with no success. Your offer may turn the tide." The kage stood up and muttered something about becoming too old for this, then sent out a few jonin to retrieve the council.

XXX

Tsunade received a return message from Naruto. It was a gigantic orange scroll, larger than hers. She opened it and read the letter and twitched

_Ha ha mine is bigger!_

She sighed at the boy's immaturity. The entire rest of the scroll was blank except for a signature and a few doodles of a spiky haired stick figure with nine tails beating the crap out of a doodle of a stick figure with a very long tongue. The drawings were titled, "The Defeat of the Fruity Snake Pedophile by the Most Awesome Foxboy." 

Tsunade laughed so hard that she made everyone outside of the office jump. Shizune muttered something about sake and liver poisoning. Everyone else tried to avoid going near the door.

XXX

As soon as the demons left the room, the council exploded into arguments.

"How do we know that these three are really demons? They could be in a henge or genjutsu!" One old council member asked.

"But what if they really are demons? We could be endangering our entire village! The even know the location of the Tsuchikage's office!"

"We could be plunging headfirst into a war for no reason!"

"Think of the waste of money!"

"WE have been the enemy of Konoha for ages, centuries even! The great and powerful empire of Iwa! Bane of the Leaf since the First Shinobi war! Why should we change now?" A man with a long thin black beard and no hair shouted.

"You are stuck in the past Xenas! We could be turning away the offer of a lifetime! Imagine having _Demons_ as our allies! If we join Konoha we can easily become one of the most powerful countries in the world!" A tall white haired woman shouted back.

"Will you two stop arguing please? I know you are married but this is a court!" Another member shouted at the bickering couple.

The noise grew to an earsplitting din. No one could attempt to pick out a conversation.

The Tsuchikage twitched in his seat at the head of the room. His council members had been arguing for the past hour.

XXX

Meanwhile in the waiting lobby, the demons were waiting. Koori entertained himself by freezing peoples' feet onto the ground outside through a window. The ice didn't show from their feet and so the wolf kept watching them try to continue walking but fall over onto their face. Loki rigged the stuck targets to stick to anyone that tries to help them, and then the people who are now trapped also turn sticky, causing a chain of people to become caught.

So far, the number was twelve people and counting. (5) Naruto was pacing by the door and trying to decipher the clamor coming through the door.

Koori shouted to the boy, "You know…it would be easier to dig a trench in the ground if you were in fox form. You could have another pair of feet!"

Naruto glared at the laughing silver-haired demon. "It isn't the fate of your country in the balance, so shut up, okay?"

The wolf waved him off, " Yeah, yeah, just trying to get you to loosen up."

Naruto pulled out a ball of foxfire and launched it under the wolf's butt. The boy laughed as he watched the guy try to pat out the purple flames, finally succeeding only to find out that it left a permanent Kick Me sign on his pants. He glared, "Cute. Really mature."

When the demon tried to brush it off, it started to flash red and yellow. The wolf jumped in surprise and tried to scrub it off with his hand. It started to change to every color of the rainbow. He looked at Naruto who had just finished the handseals. "Alright cancel it or I will destroy _your_ clothes."

"gee, I thought you liked girls, what ever would Neko-chan think if she knew you wanted to take off my clothes?" the dicolor haired boy mocked.

"Bastard. You probably have never even been kissed!" Koori accused. His hair had become poofy because of the extreme irritation he was experiencing.

"Wow, I didn't know wolfs poof up when they get mad! Maybe they are like puppies after all! Oh and by the way, I have a girlfriend and have indeed been kissed. For quite a while I might add."

"I AM NOT LIKE A DOG, AND ESPECIALLY NOT A PUPPY! Dogs are traitors to their own kind, following orders from humans, they have no free will and are the results of massive inbreeding and brainwashing!"

Naruto stared at the ranting lupine. "_I seriously have to make sure he never meets Kakashi."_

"**Yeah that would be bad" **Kasai confirmed.

XXX

"ENOUGH! I refuse to allow this argument to continue!" The kage roared from his seat. A defining silence followed.

He coughed embarrassed, "thank you… now, We all can agree that Konoha and Iwa have never been allies in any wars. However, because of the new inclusion of the demon realm, I believe that a change is in order— "

Shouts of outrage rose from the council but were quickly silenced by a hand from the kage, "Let me finish. I believe that a change is in order. From this point forward, Iwa will not partake in alliances with either side unless attacked. We will not waste valuable resources on someone else's war. Under no circumstances shall we offer help to either side unless we are in dire need of support ourselves. Send in the ambassadors for the Demonic Realm."

The demons were waved in and bowed to the group.

"We have decided to abstain from fighting unless necessary. What will the Demon Realm offer to keep us out of the war and not joining Orochimaru?"

Koori stepped forward, "The Ookami clan is willing to offer ten of our best high rank guards to monitor your borders for signs of hostile threats. However, we too are in the middle of a civil war right now and the guards will need to come in a few months to a year."

"Will any other countries have demonic guards?" One council member asked.

"As of yet, only you and Konoha will be offered, however, the demons will report to us primarily and Iwa secondarily. If we do not have mission updates, all negotiations are off. Also, the ookami guards will not be for offense." Koori stated. He was radiating the power and control of a leader.

Naruto stepped forward at Kasai's suggestion. "The Kitsune Clan is willing to offer trade alliances. However, we request a small area of land near the border of Fire country and Iwa. In our travels we have come across a large burned area of ash that seemed desolate. We didn't find any evidence of life there or even footprints. Surely you can spare this area so that we can create a trading post?"

The Tsuchikage consulted his council. "They seem to wish to take up Tonbogakure. We can't even use that area for farming. Anyone object to Naruto-sama's request?"

No one objected. "Naruto-sama, we have a deal, but we must warn you, that area used to be a town. It is incapable of sustaining any sort of farming."

The foxboy grinned, "we can fix that problem soon enough. Thank you for doing business with you. We should move into the area in a year."

The kage looked confused, "Do you normally solve your wars that quickly? I can't imagine how you can ever restore peace in a year…"

Loki smirked, "Lets just say that our government has been MIA for a while."

Both other demons glared at Loki, who laughed. The council continued to stare at the trio.

A man whispered to his neighbor, "Are we safe if these three are leaders of the Demon realm?"

"I highly doubt it," answered the other.

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

_**IMPORTANT!!!!!!**_

**_VOTEING TIME!!!! Keep NaruHina or switch to Naruharem? None of the main biju will be in it though. I can do either one and I will give you five chapters to vote. PLEASE VOTE_**

_**Go ahead, try to guess who the others are. The leopard and spider do not represent people but more alliances (do not hurt yourself with these two, they are hard. Think leopard is grey powerful and dark, and spiders like the forests and are poisonous. If you figure it out and have a better symbol please tell it to me. I was pulling at straws). The beast is hard but try to guess it. Weasel is obvious, if not to Naruto. **_

_**I am not writing the demon's voices in bold because they are talking in the same way as Naruto, therefore there is no difference in tone. This is the same scenario as how the demons talked normally in the demon world and in Naruto's head. In later scenes there are humans and demons so demons talk in bold again**_

_**Try and guess this one!**_

_**I actually liked this idea and this was actually an early version of this fic. I had to add this somewhere in here.**_

_**I remember this from a fable somewhere.**_

_**I apologize for making you all wait for an update. This one has got to be my longest chapter. I just couldn't find a place to stop. It will be a long time until the next on so this is a St. Patrick's day gift! If you don't like it Pog Moi Hoin! I probably spelled that wrong anyway…**_

_**Kyuu**_


	8. Akatsuki, Sasuke, jiraiya, and kisses

_**IMPORTANT: I FORGOT THE ROSE IN THE PROPHECY!**_

_**BARAKO IS GOING TO BE GOOD!**_

_**Barako (sorry for all of the kos) will most likely be paired with Deidara and the female demons will have their own pairings (try and guess if you want. You know them all). Sakura will be paired with Lee. I also want to find pairings for Inari, Kakashi (possibly Rin), and some of the original cast.**_

**_MESSAGE ON VOTING: It is quite clear to me that NaruHina is staying. I apologize for anyone who wanted a harem but majority rules. I will also add a minor harem to the fic. it will just be smaller and less important. Maybe Kakashi (if he gets his mask stolen by a certain ex-blond in the middle of a hoard of demon fangirls), Shino (if his sunglasses and jacket are stolen in same scenario) or Loki (because he is awesome). Any objections?_**

_**IMPORTANT: I just want to say that just because someone was not mentioned in the prophecy doesn't mean that he/she will not be in the story. The prophecy is really the characters who are going to be around Naruto the most. The others will be important too, just will most likely stay in Konoha. **_

_**Voting update:**_

_**NaruHina: 24**_

_**Naru Harem: 8 **_

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

Chapter 8

"Anything inside Naruto's head that isn't Kasai"

_**XXXXXXXXXXX**_

The Tsuchikage gave one last piece of advice before the Trio of demons departed form the city, "Be aware, a man was recently spotted who is believed to be related to the Yellow Flash himself. We only know of him as the Red Whirlwind or the Bloody Storm. Considering his father, I believe he would be a formidable opponent to even demon kind."

Naruto nodded to the old man, "we will be careful. I doubt that he can take on three demons! And besides he is most likely from Fire country anyway!"

The man turned his eyes down, "Do not underestimate that man. His father killed hundreds of our shinobi in one battle. I wouldn't expect less from his son."

Loki smirked, "I would like to meet this guy if he can worry one of this world's most powerful men."

Koori grinned as well, "We will keep an eye out of this guy. Good luck finding him."

XXX

"Well, that was a pain in the ass!" Koori said as soon as he sent the last scroll to the Ookami clan and read the last reply. He was walking next to Naruto and Loki in his human form on the busy trading route to the next large city. They had left Iwa hours ago after finalizing the contracts and deals.

Loki was trying to teach Naruto the order of shinobi in the demonic realm, Kasai was translating in Naruto's head.

After another hour of traveling the other travelers around them had dissipated into other roads and towns, so the three travelers were allowed to change forms.

"**Oh man it feels good to be a fox again!" **Loki sighed in relief. He was back to a house-cat sized kit. He hoped onto Naruto's shoulder and batted at the boy's hair.

"**I know what you mean! Being a wolf feels great after trying to stay human for so long! I am so out of practice!" ** Koori ran a few laps around Naruto, who was glaring at the pair.

"okay, I feel left out! Let me try transforming into a fox!" Naruto shouted, determined not to miss any thing. "Besides, then we can move faster too!"

Kasai explained the process and once again shared memories. Soon, Naruto was growing fur and listening to the serenade of joints and bones shifting. He was once again blasted by enhancing senses and new feelings.

When he became less dizzy he found out he was splayed across the ground. His legs were all spread out and when he tried to get up, he ended up falling over again. "**Well, This is new."**

He soon found out that walking on four paws is harder than the demons made it look. Inside his head, Kasai was roaring with laughter. He managed to get up after he used his tails to prop himself up. Suddenly he heard another, slightly emotionless voice inside his head, "You know, it might be easier if you use your tails for balance and not like supports. Chakra might also help."

"_Great there are now two voices inside my head."_

"**Ten actually. The nine personas and I are all on here. I guess it is a result of me forcing control. If I had known it would cause this much trouble I would have left koori stuck in the rock! So far, Stoic is the only one who figured out how to open the door to your main mind. The others have their own lairs to keep themselves occupied in."**

"That is because I am also in charge of logic. My area is only a blank square room with a few rubix cubes in it."

"_that is kind of sad."_

Naruto tried Stoic's suggestion and found out it was much easier to balance if he used his tails. The other two demons stopped laughing and gave Naruto more pointers and then the trio continued south towards the closest town, the Land of Honey, for more supplies.

XXX

"I can't believe leader-sama made me baby-sit you for the day, yeah." Deidara muttered as he changed his hair from blonde to black and took down his pony tail.

Tobi was changing his hair to a bright red and turning his eyes green. He was forced to take off his mask and leave it at the hideout. They were both dressed as common villagers and were already nearing the city.

Deidara sighed, "Just don't make me turn you into art. You would make a nasty explosion."

"Yes Deidara-senpai! Tobi is a good boy, he wouldn't embarrass you!" the kid was bouncing up and down on his heels, "Road trip! Wahoo!"

The artist pinched the bridge of his nose to prevent the encroaching headache. "We are only going a few miles away from the hideout. Land of Honey doesn't even have any shinobi! It isn't that fun!"

"Come on! Think of the fun people we will see! Maybe we can meet someone to recruit! I can finally meet someone my own age! Maybe he will be a strong opponent too! Don't you want to see if there are any artists in town like you?"

Deidara smirked. The boy's happy attitude was infectious. "It would be nice to meet someone who knows something about art who isn't completely insane, yeah."

"Says the guy who assassinated an entire mafia family." Tobi shot back with a grin.

"Good point kid, yeah, but at least I had a good reason to join. You really just wanted to ditch Kemurigakure because it was a bunch of idiots more stupid than you."

"HEY! I am not stupid!"

"So they are smarter than you?" Deidara smirked.

"No! I am the smartest one from that entire village! I even ditched the headband!"

"That was because you thought it looked stupid, yeah. You told us that when you first signed up. Do you even know what that headband means?" Deidara started to lecture Tobi on the importance of respecting the headband and the title shinobi.

About two seconds into the sermon Tobi fell asleep.

"AM I BORING YOU?????" Deidara shouted when he noticed Tobi was asleep.

"Quite frankly, yes" Tobi said with a yawn, which earned him a taste of Deidara's "art".

XXX

Naruto and Loki were racing around the trail while Koori was designing his newest art sculpture while in his human form to get used to walking on two legs. After the two foxes stopped to wait for the wolf to catch up, Koori asked their opinion.

"So how does it look?"

The figure was a beautiful crystalline snowflake with hundreds of branches, causing it to look like lace. The sun shown through it making it refract the light into tiny rainbows on the ground.

The foxes nodded their approval and were shocked to see Koori make the sculpture melt and flow back into his water flask.

"**Why did you make it melt?! It was beautiful**!" Naruto barked.

"True art can only happen in an instant, like a falling snowflake or a sheet of melting snow. Each part is unique and when it is gone it is lost forever."

The two foxes were asleep by the time koori finished. He froze their noses to the ground in payback then poked them both with his swords in the ass.

Watching the two jump only to flip over their own noses was great revenge. "Come on I don't have all day! What's wrong? Ground got your nose?" Taunting was better.

"Jus unfreeze our noses" Naruto grumbled with a nasally voice while he tried to strangle the wolf with a tail.

XXX

"Oh please may we buy ramen, Deidara-senpai? It smells so good and Kisame can only cook good sushi! I haven't eaten decent ramen in AGES"

Deidara carried the two parcels from shopping and glared at his shorter partner. He liked ramen too, but he would never admit that they had something in common, "Why do you want that stuff anyway?"

"Ramen was sent by kami to be worshiped by the people by eating it everyday!" Tobi said in an "a matter of fact" voice.

Deidara sighed, "Alright we will get a few bowls of ramen if you will stop bothering me."

XXX

Loki watched in amazement as Koori and Naruto slurped down bowl after bowl of ramen. He barely finished his second bowl by the time those two were on their eleventh.

A short kid with red hair and green eyes, around Naruto's height before Kasai grew him, sat down next to the two and easily caught up with their pace and number of bowls. A tall black haired man with his left eye covered by hair watched the boy with interest and then ordered two bowls also.

Loki tried to strike up a conversation, "Sheesh, that kid eats as much as Naru-sama and Koori. I don't know how he does it."

The dark haired stranger looked at the fox and smirked, "How can you afford to pay for two of those demons, yeah"

Loki froze then realized that the stranger was just commenting on the pair's eating habits, "We are missionaries who just left Iwa. A few jobs here and there and it pays the bills."

"I am Deidara. What shall I call you, fellow warriors, yeah?" Deidara grinned at the teen. He knew that the three were most likely missing nins if they called themselves missionaries. He felt that hunted ninjas should stick together.

"I am Loki, the silver haired one is Koori and the one who is starting to beat koori in the ramen eating fest is Naru." Loki said, creating a quick fake name for Naruto.

"The kid is Tobi. Chances are I am going to have to finish up my grocery shopping later. He is going to be here a while, yeah."

Naruto and koori waved wile continuing to eat. Koori sped up to catch up with Naruto. The owner needed to enlist the help of both waitresses and two waiters to feed the trio of ramen disposals.

When the three eating machines depleted all of the ingredients in the stand, they continued to chat. Koori and Deidara found out that they had a common thread between them,

"So, you are an artist two? Tell me you don't make something stupid, like paintings." Koori asked.

"No, true art-" Deidara started to say

"Only lasts for a single moment." the two said in unison.

"FINALY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS!" koori said with relief.

"I make explosions, what about you, yeah?" Deidara said, his grin growing. He threw a ball on clay into the air and detonated it in a display of fireworks.

"Ice figures" Koori created a crystalline sphere that erupted into a beautiful spiked sculpture then quickly melted.

The two artists appreciated each other's work then started to brainstorm ideas with each other.

Tobi looked at the other two and whispered to them, "I don't know about you guys, but I don't get it."

The foxes in human clothing nodded in agreement.

Deidara blew up a lump of clay in Tobi's face and koori froze the two idiots in the butt.

"I think that this is the start of a long friendship," Koori said to the other sculptor who nodded in agreement. They left the three sitting on the stools, either frozen to the seat or knocked out.

XXX

"So Deidara, you said you were also a warrior? Where are you from? Are you a shinobi, samurai, or a ronin?" koori asked, curious.

Deidara glanced at the wolf, curious and a bit suspicious. "I was a shinobi at one point but I gave it up. The world of the ninja is becoming too corrupt." He said, not really lying, "I was at one point from Iwa, but now I travel around a bit. I am staying here for a bit."

Koori accepted the answer. He liked Deidara and could tell it was a sensitive subject, so he didn't pry.

Deidara was curious about the other artist, "Where were you from and how can you manipulate ice without seals, yeah?" Koori would be a great ally if he could manipulate ice.

Koori thought, "_Damn I forgot humans use seals to do jutsu!"_

"Uh…it's a… bloodline?" the wolf picked through his mind to figure out if humans had bloodline traits like the demons of old.

"Oh you are from Kiri, yeah? I thought that that clan was wiped out! You escaped from the massacre?" Deidara was surprised; he would have to tell Kisame that one of his clan's old allies was still alive.

"I was kind of a black sheep. My mom was kicked out of the clan before I was born. A scandal with my mother and one of the members of council, I think." Koori said without missing a beat. He was pretty good at making up convincing lies.

"Oh…too bad for you. Do you know any clan jutsu?" Deidara was definitely interested now.

"No, mom died before she could show me any. She was killed by hunter nins sent by the clan." Koori didn't realize how close his story resembled Deidara's past.

Deidara looked at the demon with respect. He looked around at the field with a stream that they were in and had an epiphany. "Would you like to have a friendly spar, yeah? I need to have a challenge."

The wolf smirked, "I will try not to beat you up too badly." The two jumped into action.

Koori started out by calling up the water in the stream to soak his entire body. He then froze it to create a sort of protective armor of ice. His hair turned into spikes and also added a layer of defense.

Deidara started out by creating a small fleet of clay birds and aiming them at the wolf, exploding them one after the other to try to break though the layer of ice. Koori stood his ground and increased the layer of ice then started to shoot ice needles out of his skin to hit the birds as they came.

The two fighters started to send weapons to each other as well, then resorted to taijutsu.

XXX

"I can't believe that those bastards left us with the bill!" Loki grumbled. Tobi and Naruto were still annoyed for being blasted and frozen, respectively.

"It took us an hour to thaw out our butts and all you can think of is the bill?"

"Where do you think Deidara senpai and Koori-san went?" Tobi asked the two fox demons.

"Somewhere to discus art or something." Loki said. A large mushroom cloud appeared on the horizon.

Tobi looked at it then calmly stated, "Lets just follow the explosions."

XXXX

Koori thought to himself as Deidara dodged the ice bullets for the fifth time, '_Will this guy ever stand still?'_

He took out his twin swords and leapt at his opponent. He was holding back a lot because he couldn't turn into his wolf form and he was still rusty from being incased in a mountain for fourteen years.

Deidara took out a pair of kunai and deflected the blades. His hand mouths were full of clay and were shaping a tiny explosive spider to crawl onto Koori.

'_If I can just stall him for a few minutes I can plant a bomb on him.' _Deidara thought as he spun away. Koori smirked and slashed with the flat of his blade, giving the Akatsuki member a bad bruise.

Deidara was shocked that the wolf actually landed a hit on him. He backed off panting, "Owww, yeah, that has to be the first time I have been hurt in a while. You could have actually used the edge of the blade! I haven't had a good workout in a while, yeah."

"Me too. It has been years since I had a challenge or even a sparring partner." Koori said with a smirk, also slightly short of breath. He hadn't trained in fourteen years, after all.

"Hey Koori, Deidara-san! Are you two still alive? We have been gone for an hour and you already destroyed a field!" Naruto shouted as he walked to the pair. He started to flash though seals, "Bakudai Hara No Jutsu!"

The burnt and frozen ground leveled out and sprouted a field of grass and flowers. Tobi watched in interest, "What jutsu was that?"

Naruto smirked back, "Sorry, village secret."

Tobi pouted, "But you aren't in your village anymore! Can't you please teach it to me?"

Loki laughed, "It isn't very useful for battle anyway, just gardening. Don't waste your chakra!"

Tobi still looked annoyed at the thought of not knowing a jutsu but he let it slide. All of a sudden, but he and Deidara started to groan as if in pain. The three demons ran up to them to see what was the matter.

Deidara moaned through gritted teeth, "S-sorry, w-we have to leave."

Tobi cursed, (1) "D-damn r-ring. B-boss is pissed."

"S-shut up, yeah!" The pain they were in seemed to amplify, and Loki tried to heal them but the two sped away, Tobi with his bags in hand.

Before they disappeared into the trees, Naruto noticed that Tobi's hair had turned red and Deidara was now blonde. He gasped when he saw what their clothes had turned into; black cloaks with red clouds.

"Akatsuki…" he muttered darkly.

"What was that Naruto?" Loki asked with curiosity. Naruto had suddenly become extremely pissed off.

"Those bastards were from Akatsuki! They are an organization trying to kill all demons and jinchiruki! And we let them get away AGAIN!" Naruto ranted with fury. Two chakra tails erupted from the base of his spine as he let his rage consume him. Killer Intent poured off him in waves.

Loki and Koori saw that he was about to go on a rampage and jumped on him, knocking him to the ground. "Easy Naruto! Those guys didn't know we were demons, I am sure of it!" Koori tried to persuade Naruto to relax.

"Yeah, if that Tobi guy knew you were the Kyuubi, I doubt he would sit down and have a bowl of ramen next to you. Also, they were carrying grocery bags for kami sake!" Loki said.

Naruto seemed to become more tranquil. Kasai said inside his head, "**I could detect no hostile actions from either of those two. When they seemed in pain, I saw a massive amount of dark chakra being pumped through their hands and arms. It came from the rings on their fingers."**

"It can't have been a coincidence." Naruto growled. '_I even tried to make friends with Tobi_!' He thought in disgust.

"**Maybe he is forced to join Akatsuki? He didn't seem happy to be called by the ring, and also who would willingly join a group that poisons you with impure chakra every time you are called?" **Kasai suggested,

Naruto's chakra dissipated and he relaxed. "Sorry guys, you are right."

Loki and koori looked at each other with relief. They got off of the fox and smiled. Koori looked thoughtful, "If they are that strong, how come I defeated Deidara, or at least hurt him?"

Naruto waved him off, "You were only sparring. He couldn't have been trying too hard."

Koori remembered Deidara's comment about not being hurt in a while and smirked but kept his mouth shut. It would be his little secret.

Naruto made one last comment before they headed out to find the Village Hidden in Stone to find the Lords of Ryuu and Kajitori, "We can attack the hideout at some point, now that we know where it is."

Loki pointed out, "We might want to find the others before we try to take on the strongest humans in the planet. While we are at it, lets start training you"

Both full demons suddenly adopted sadistic grins. Naruto became a bit nervous and suddenly wondered why the hell he was there.

None of the demons ever caught the scent of the hebi jinchiruki who was only a few miles away inside of that hideout

XXX

"You…called Leader-sama?" Deidara asked as he bowed to the man sitting in the throne inside the main building of the city. Tobi was next to him, still holding the bags of groceries.

"I asked you to do a simple mission. Picking up groceries does not take three hours. What kept you?" The leaders voice was calm but with a hint of threat.

Deidara frowned, he didn't want to put the other ninjas he met in danger of being eliminated or worse, drafted into the Akatsuki. He quickly made up a lie, "It took us a while to find the right kind of roses for Barako. She wanted the special Extra Large blooms in crimson, but the normal store was out of them. They only had the de-thorned plain roses in pink. Somehow I doubt that she would want to use something that can't draw blood. We had to go to the next town over to find them."

He pulled out the package of roses and allowed himself to look smug. Tobi was nodding his head and added after he noticed the size of the blooms, "I finally found them in a small stand. They were even bigger than the normal ones!"

The leader looked skeptical and glared, but gave up and waved them off. "Go take them to Barako. She will be happy to know that her favorite artillery has arrived."

XXX

Deidara knocked on Barako's door. He always loved giving the only female in the Akatsuki her favorite plants.

She shouted from inside, "Come in Deidara-kun!"

The blonde pushed open the door to the woman's red room. The back wall opened up to a balcony and open-air greenhouse, all full of blood lilies and roses. The pale woman with light blue hair was busy working on one of the arrangements.

Deidara smirked, "I can never figure out how you know it is always me, yeah."

The extremely beautiful woman smiled, her vampire fangs poking out of her blood red lips. She wore a red shirt with black bands that crossed over her front in a plunging neckline with another band around her chest in an empire waist. She wore a black skirt that was slit on the sides and blood red bandages around her thighs under it. Deidara had a suspicion that she dyed them with her opponent's blood. Her Akatsuki cloak was over the shirt and a small hip holster held her poison daggers and whip and another on the other side held the dried roses that she used as projectiles. She licked her lips and said in a flirtatious alto voice, "You have an exotic smelling blood," she appeared behind him, "Slightly earthy with a hint of cinnamon."

He smirked again, flirting back, "with all of the roses you love around here, you smell quite nice yourself!" he looked at the different arrangements of roses scattered around the room, "your works are true art, even if they do last a bit longer than an explosion."

He handed her the bouquet with a bow. She pulled out a single rose and smiled at the amount of thorns on the long stem. "Ah! You are once again my delivery boy. You always pick out the most perfect flowers, not too dark, not wilted, not too bright and cheery, perfect amount of thorns," She dragged a rose quickly across her hand, which brought up blood that quickly was sucked back into her pale skin, "Quickly draws blood, too! Once again you are my hero."

She leaned forward suggestively against Deidara's chest, and looked up into his face, lips in a small pout, "How may I make it up to you?"

Deidara blushed and backed away a few steps. "That is perfectly alright Barako-sama-"

She smiled, "Please, no formalities between friends, I can be Barako-chan to you."

Deidara grinned nervously, "Alright Barako-chan. I am just doing my job after all, yeah. I mean, Itachi does the shopping most of the time…"

She tilted her neck in a cute way and once again pouted, "but Itachi-san never gets the right kinds. Those are all wilted and never have enough thorns. He is too quiet and always leaves the roses with the other groceries. At one point I swore I saw Zetsu crushing one of them! Savage…"

Barako disliked the other plant user with a passion. He had no interest in flowers of beauty, only the functional plants like trees and bushes. He threw a fit when she stole the fertilizer he was designing for fly traps and used it in her garden. He even had the audacity to threaten to eat the woman if she ever tried to use it again.

Deidara looked pleased with himself at achieving her praise. He would never admit it but he felt affection for the vampiress for quite a while.

"Deidara-kun…I need your help with something." Barako asked with a small smirk. "You see, I need to go on a mission undercover and I need you honest opinion on a dress."

The clay users warning bells inside his head were going off, but completely ignored. "Of course."

Barako beamed and went into her closet and changed while the blond waited outside. When she emerged she wore a tight black silk dress with a silver silk ribbon around her neck. Her hair was henged with slightly darker blue streaks and fell in loose curls. Her eyes were her normal vibrant emerald green. She wore black strap high heels and diamond earrings. In short she looked sexy. Deidara's jaw was no longer attached to his head and his nose had a small drop of blood under it.

Seeing him bleed, she walked up to him and leaned into him and whispered, "Here, let me get that…"

She licked the blood out from under his nose and then kissed him on the lips with a grin.

Leaving the shell-shocked man to his own fantasies, she slinked back to the closet and changed.

Deidara was on cloud nine. His mind was repeating, '_Did she kiss me? She kissed me! Is she attracted to me? She kissed me! God she is hot and she kissed me! Oh shit I cant let her have the last kiss!'_

When she stepped out of the closet, she was treated to another more responsive kiss.

Her mind was filled with only two sentences, _'I could get used to this! Kami, he is a good kisser!"_

Outside the door, Tobi collected money from Kisame and surprisingly Hidan.

Tobi smirked, "you guys should know never to bet against me."

Kisame muttered, "I could have sworn it would have taken at least a week longer for those two to get together."

Hidan cursed, "Damn it, I thought that she would drink his blood first and turn him into a vampire too."

Tobi snorted, "You could easily tell that those two were going to go after each other at some point! Every meeting they were stealing glances at each other and flirting. Also, as interesting as your theory is, Hidan, I think she would feel it would be better if Deidara was still alive. Maybe if he is seriously wounded she would turn him, but not just for romance sake."

The losers of the bet went back to their rooms, their wallets few thousand ryou lighter

XXX

Jiraiya was having a great day. His reconnaissance mission finally ended after the two months and he was going back to Konoha. He should have the perfect amount of time to gather information, try to recruit a new artist for Icha Icha Tactics, and hand in his report before Naruto bugs him for more training.

That reminded the pervert of something, '_I really should offer him a choice of going on a training trip with me. He needs to get away from that village for a while, also it will throw Akatsuki off track. I will ask him later.'_

The toad hermit summoned a medium size frog and bypassed the gate completely. He didn't want to deal with the guards today; it would ruin his good mood. He hopped over the fence and headed to Tsunade's office.

He dropped the scroll down in front of her sleeping form on the desk and disappeared out the window before she could punch him. He neglected to notice the giant scroll that was next to her desk and the fact that she was missing her sake bottles inside the cabinet behind her.

After a few hours of peeking and putting up an advertisement for any artists in the area, he went to Ichiraiku's to find Naruto. What he saw was appalling.

The stand was empty except for Iruka, and Teuchi. They were all drinking sake and looked miserable. Ayame was slouched in a seat with her head in her arms, her face tearstained.

He walked up to Iruka and asked, "Hey, who died?"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Iruka looked even more depressed, and Teuchi gave him the worst glare imaginable. Ayame burst into tears again.

Iruka mumbled something about, "he----S-Rank---Nine---council----Bastards," into his cup of sake.

"Who and what now?"

Teuchi glared at him, obviously upset, he barked to the sannin, "Naruto is gone. Aren't you supposed to have the best spy network around? And you don't even realize that your own student was sent on a Suicide mission?"

Jiraiya was stunned; he staggered backwards in shock, his eyes betraying the confusion and fear he was feeling, "No…not Naruto! I was just about to offer him training! No, not again! I will not lose another student!"

He disappeared to go to Tsunade's office to get the story straight.

"Tsunade! WHERE IS MY STUDENT?" he roared as he slammed his fist into the desk, cracking it in two and shocking the Hokage out of her sleep.

She awoke with shock at seeing her teammate in such a rage. "Jiraiya! Calm down!"

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN? MY STUDENT WAS SENT ON A SUICIDAL MISSION! NINE TIMES!! I WILL NOT LOSE HIM LIKE I LOST ARASHI!"

Tsunade slapped the toad senin in the face, "I said clam down and shut up! I know you are upset but I think you should get the full story before you go on a rampage!"

He sat down hard in the chair, his face clearly showing his anger.

"Naruto was sent on nine S-Rank missions by the council while I was away. He was almost killed every time, but was saved by kyuubi. He left the village to escape the torment, pretending to go on the last mission. Everyone believes that he is dead, but that is not true. He is somewhere out of Fire Country and following directions given to him by the kyuubi. Here is his letter explaining it." Tsunade passed over the first letter to Jiraiya who read it quickly and looked more relieved.

"I am sorry Tsunade. When I heard that Naruto was killed from Iruka and the ramen owner, Teuchi, I felt like it was the Kyuubi attack all over again. I don't think I could stand losing another pupil." The man leaned back into his chair, still recovering from the shock.

"I know. When I first heard it, I sentenced every council member from the Elder council to death for betrayal and disobeying the Thirds Law."

Jiraiya smirked, "they deserved it. So, since when has Iruka become an alcoholic?"

Tsunade winced, "I was wondering who stole all of my sake. I should probably tell them…but if Naruto didn't tell them, he must have had a good reason."

Jiraiya shook his head, "Naruto most likely thought that Iruka would go after him to try to stop him from leaving. If he told me, I would have tried too. We should probably see what Naruto told them before he left to get the story straight. Possibly when they run out of sake."

Tsunade glared, "how about you go and get my sake back before I hurt you or worse, make you do paperwork?"

Jiraiya left quite quickly. Tsunade sighed and started writing a new scroll to Naruto.

_Dear Gaki,_

_Do you know any good ways to destroy paperwork?_

XXX

Teuchi threw a bottle of sake to Jiraiya and motioned for him to sit down. The sannin was upset that the kid left without even leaving a letter. The owner sighed and said, "Sorry to break the news to you like that. The kid was important to all of us."

Jiraiya waved him off, "I would have found out anyway. How did you find out?"

Teuchi sighed, "The kid said goodbye to Iruka and I the day before he left."

Iruka looked up to the white haired old man. He had finished his sake and was still glum looking. He sighed and muttered, "He only really told us what happened and a few other people. Kakashi took it kind of hard that two of his students were gone before they were even made chunin. Naruto didn't even tell him that he went on S-Rank missions at all. I believe he went back to ANBU."

Jiraiya made a mental note to tell Kakashi about Naruto as well. "Iruka, when have you begun drinking sake?"

"I was up to two bottles when I first heard the news. Now I only am allowed one saucer a day. Teuchi and I have been drinking partners ever since." He gave the older man a smile.

"Ayame hasn't gotten over it yet. She considered the kid a brother. I wish her old boyfriend was still here, though." Teuchi said with remorse.

He still remembered the older Uchiha helping his daughter by delivering food ANBU style. He was confused when he murdered the clan though. The kid was polite and kind to him, never even showing him the cold exterior that he gave to everyone else. He even seemed to really care for his brother; he used to talk about him all the time!

Ayame never seemed to get over the loss of him. She was kind of shunned for being Itachi's girlfriend after the massacre. She sighed and remembered their last meeting

XXX

_Flashback_

"_Please, Itachi-kun! Tell me what's wrong! You haven't been acting like yourself," she said worried, her voice quivering on the verge of tears as she clutched her boyfriend's arm. He looked back at her with a sad look on his face._

"_I am sorry Ayame-chan. I cannot tell you where I am going. I will be away for a while, but I promise you, I will come back. Don't think any less of me. I will always love you." He turned around and kissed her passionately, trying to hold on to every second of the embrace. Trying to make sure he will remember her face, remember her touch, remember her kiss._

_He slipped a ring onto her finger. It was a small silver ring with a diamond engraved with the Uchiha fan surrounded by rubies. "I promise when I come back we will be married, if you will be able to forgive me."_

_Ayame began to tear. She looked into his eyes, "I can always forgive you for anything. I love you Itachi."_

_He kissed her again, and then he whispered under his breath, almost to himself, "Please…Please don't let that be a lie."_

_He disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves, leaving the girl sitting by herself on the park bench._

_End flashback_

_XXX_

Ayame fingered the promise ring on her finger. It had stayed as beautiful and sparkling as it was when he gave it to her. '_Did you really mean that Itachi-kun?'_

XXX

Itachi was pissed. No, he was _beyond_ pissed. Currently, Kisame, Deidara, Tobi, and any other Akatsuki member in the vicinity were hiding under chairs, tables, couches and anything else they could find to hide from his wrath.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HE WENT TO OROCHIMARU????"

Itachi had just been informed of Sasuke's betrayal to Konoha and he was not happy.

"I SAVED HIS AS FROM BEING UNDER ONE CURSE SEAL AND THEN HE _VOLUNTARILY _GOT ANOTHER??? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE THINKING???" Itachi was ranting and burning anything in sight. His cold, uncaring mask had been ditched.

Kisame was cowering under the table with Deidara, who was extremely upset to be separated from his new girlfriend. He only went to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine and now Itachi was destroying the hallway, preventing him from escaping. "Kisame-san, can you cool him off, yeah?" The clay master asked.

The shark man looked unnerved, "I can control that guy when he is on a rampage! I have never even seen him express any emotion at all!"

"I AM GOING TO OTOGAKURE TO KICK HIS BUTT BACK TO KONOHA IN A FULL BODY CAST AND KILL THAT ROTTEN SNAKE!"

The leader had arrived and did not look too happy to be woken up. He was wearing a black bathrobe with red clouds on it and bright red slippers. He growled to the Uchiha, "Itachi…why are you shouting and letting your voice carry throughout the entire abandoned village. I live five streets away from the members residence and I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!" the leader twitched as he shouted.

Itachi replaced his cold mask, "I am sorry Leader-sama. I will try to be quiet as I do something I should have done a while ago." The Uchiha began to walk out of the building.

Kisame shouted after the dark haired man, "Where are you going and can I come too?"

Itachi smirked and asked, "How do you feel about obliterating Otogakure?"

"Will I be able to smash some skulls with Samehada?"

"If you wish."

"Count me in"

The leader had had enough banter and made a pair of hand seals. Instantly Itachi and Kisame were writhing in pain on the floor of the building. "You still have years as my faithful servant Itachi. Kisame also has not finished his time. Unless I tell you to, you may not attack Orochimaru, even if it is to save your pathetic brother."

The leader sneered at the Uchiha who was currently experiencing the equivalent of an Amaterasu inside of his body. The leader couched down and forced Itachi to look him in the eye and said with malice, "I will not have any disobedience in my kingdom."

XXX

Sasuke Uchiha was pissed. No, he was _beyond_ pissed. Currently, any minor Oto ninja was hiding under furniture for fear of attracting his wrath.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST THE WAREABOUTS OF NARUTO? I GAVE SPECIFIC ORDERS TO HAVE HIM TRACKED SO THAT I MAY KILL HIM IN THE FUTURE!" The normally clam Uchiha was unknowingly copying his older brother's actions.

His curse seal was acting up as he became more agitated. Kabuto was trying to calm him down before he destroys any more furniture in his room. The poor Oto ANBU who was supposed to keep track was trying to explain himself while he dodged katon jutsu. "you see Sasuke-sama-AAHHH- There was this cave with his scent in it and it was full of- OH NO- lions and Kinta was eaten and I barely- SHIT- escaped with my life and then- OUCH- These huge logs and –CAREFUL- monsters attacked me and—ARGHH- stink bombs went off and we watched your brother and some shark guy attack the boy and then we were knocked out before we could see what happened and-----aaaaaAAAA**AAAAA_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH----_**."

Needless to say, the ANBU was silenced. Kabuto tried to heal him while Sasuke took his anger out on a couch. "Sasuke-kun, you might want to at least keep some of your shinobi alive. I am not sure I have enough chakra to heal every single ninja in the building," he said politely while he pumped healing chakra into the still form of the ANBU.

"My _brother_ attacked _Naruto _when he _abandoned _ Konoha and then _I DON'T EVEN GET TO KNOW WHO WON THE BATTLE?_ I THINK THAT I HAVE A RIGHT TO KILL SOMEONE!" Sasuke stabbed his new sword through a table.

Orochimaru was watching the boy with amusement as he continued to trash his room. "My, my, the little Uchiha has his brother's temper. Speaking of which, Itachi probably wants to kill me right now! Kukukukuku"

XXX

Itachi sneezed and shouted from inside his room, "THE BASTARD IS PROBABLY GLOATING!"

Kisame shuddered inside the next room over, '_Itachi has finally lost it!'_

XXX

Orochimaru smirked, "Sasuke-kun, would you like to train for a bit to vent your frustration?" He smiled at the image of his shinobi being cut down by his apprentice in the battle arena.

Sasuke disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves and reappeared in the stadium, awaiting his next opponent. Orochimaru gave a signal for the next victim to be pushed into the area and watched with glee as he pumped his own chakra into the curse seal, making Sasuke even more blood-lusting. The jonin who was thrown in lasted fifteen minutes before a few kunai caught him in the arms effectively disabling him.

"Bravo! Encore!" Kabuto shouted from the stands with a few other shinobi following his example. Orochimaru was disappointed at the fact that Sasuke did not kill him, but was still impressed at the strategy that Sasuke used in drawing the other nin into the open using genjutsu and kamawari. A very minimal chakra-use strategy like that is useful in long-term battles.

Sasuke angrily disappeared from the arena. '_not even fighting or training gives me pleasure anymore. I wish the dobe would try to make me come back. Its depressing knowing that no one has even tried to force me to return back to Konoha. Does anyone even care that I am gone?'_

The Uchiha survivor plopped into his bed and tried to relax, but his thoughts always created images inside his head. He blacked out into sleep.

XXX

_Fourteen-year-old Sasuke ran through the darkened streets of the Uchiha compound, trying not to look at the dead bodies scattered around the streets. He thought that he was dreaming but the world seemed too real. He was in his own perspective, and not looking down like a spectator. It seemed to life like, he could smell the blood of his relatives, he could pick out the details of the road. This was not dream of his, but he knew he was asleep._

_As he ran he tried not to remember the haunted lifeless stares of his deceased family. He was suddenly in front of his old house, blood seeping through the rice paper door. _

_He was compelled to open it to see someone, surprisingly not his brother, standing over a dead body. The man had dark orange hair and three dots next to his nose. He was radiating pure evil, the upper part of his face covered in shadow. He was standing over the lifeless body of someone. Sasuke walked up to the body and flipped it over, curiosity winning over fear. Naruto's lifeless blue eyes stared into his red Sharingan eyes. _

"_No…not Naruto too…my only friend…MY TRUE BROTHER!" Sasuke charged a Chidori at the man standing in the house, who laughed sadistically and dissolved into black darkness before the Chidori could hit. _

"_Heh, poor little lost Uchiha. No friend to save you, no brother to protect you, no snake to shelter you. Only me and the dead body of a tortured demon! He cried for you, you know. 'don't kill Sasuke!' pathetic really. I had hoped a jinchiruki would put up more of a fight. Your brother too, he also tried to save you. I killed him for his disobedience!" The cold cruel voice surrounded Sasuke as another body appeared. The man who Sasuke spent his whole life trying to match in strength was dead in front of him. Killed by a man Sasuke never even met. _

_For some reason, Sasuke felt even more rage against the man. How dare he take away his meaning in life!_

_The image dissolved around him. He was suddenly on a battlefield, surrounded by the dead. Sakura, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Lee, hundreds of faces from his past, all staring at him with unresponsive, dead eyes. Naruto was there, dying as blood pooled around him, his lower torso ripped away from his body, his entrails sticking out of his chest. He crawled toward Sasuke using only his hands, the other half of him staying behind. _

"_Why Sasuke? Why did you not help me? Why did you stand there as he ripped me apart? Why did you betray us? I thought of you as a brother! I never gave up on you!"_

_Sasuke turned around to try to escape the apparition only to see a woman, her hair dark with a hint of green and bright gold eyes look up at him, her eyes filled with tears of pain. Sasuke knew he loved this woman at some point. Her arms were torn off of her body, her legs twisted backwards. She coughed up blood and it fell from her lips adding to the red ground. "Why Sasuke-kun? You promised me! You told me you loved me! You didn't lift a finger to help us!"_

_Sasuke felt himself being ripped apart by anguish. He screamed into the air, "Is this my fate? Why are you showing me this?"_

_A voice, different from the dark cruel voice of the dark orange haired man, spoke around him, its voice bright and almost female, "If you fail and choose the path you are headed in, this will come to pass."_

_Sasuke fell to his knees, "What must I do? How can I prevent this horrible future from occurring?"_

_The celestial voice continued, "Pick the right path. Join fate's champion and the chosen elite his quest. Escape from the snake and join the fox's lord."_

_Sasuke whispered in awe, "Who are you?"_

"_Someone who does not wish to see her child's life go to waste." The voice softened. _

_Sasuke whispered before he woke up, "…Mother?" (2)_

XXX

He shot up in his bed, the dream becoming more vibrant in his head and not fading like normal. He was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and was panting like he was out of breath. He held his face in his hands and tried to forget the nightmare but it pushed itself into the front of his mind, almost like it was refusing to be ignored. His head started to throb as he kept trying to stop thinking about it. Finally he gave up and hissed, "alright! I get it!"

He was still wearing his battle clothes that were stained in blood. He got up to change into the clothes Orochimaru gave him, ignoring the bright purple rope belt. He looked at the thing with distaste, "It will be a cold day in Suna before I wear that."

XXX

Elsewhere, a newly appointed redheaded kage shivered and closed the window. It was getting cold out there.

A messenger came and deposited another load of paperwork onto his desk. Gaara tried to pound his head onto his desk, only to have his sand block the impact every time. A deep and insane voice laughed at the boy's fate.

"Must not kill…Must not kill…Must not kill paperwork." Gaara repeated his mantra as he sipped from his industrial size coffee mug.

He picked up the first scroll with the leaf symbol on it. It was a letter from Konoha's kage. Sighing, he unrolled the paper and began to read about Tsunade's request.

_Dear Kazekage-sama:_

_Congratulations on you appointment to Kage and I wish to offer my_

_condolences to you for the amount of paperwork you are most likely_

_receiving. (_Gaara smirked_) I would like to request your help with a minor_

_problem that has occurred in Konoha. I am aware that you have at one _

_point met Uzumaki Naruto and I would like to know if you can contact me on_

_the whereabouts of him if he ever arrives in Suna. He has recently gone _

_missing and we have a suspicion that he may arrive in your village at some _

_point or another. Please contact us if you find him and treat him like a guest._

_Sincerely,_

_Tsunade, Godiame Hokage of Konoha_

Gaara became perplexed. Naruto did not seem like the type to become a missing nin and definitely not the type to travel far form his home village. The sand user had a hinting suspicion that the Kyuubi inside of Naruto had something to do with the problem. Shukaku had told him about the fox when the pair first met and Gaara respected the fellow jinchiruki. If Naruto ever did come to Suna, Gaara doubted that he would tell Konoha about it. If the blond left Konoha, it was for a good reason.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**1 I know that Tobi doesn't get his ring until Sasori dies but he needs to for the sake of the plot. Because Naruto is all serious now, I wanted someone immature to be in his group. **_

_** 2 Okay, if anyone is confused about this, I am trying to say that Uchiha Mikoto (Sasuke's mom) contacted him by a dream to keep the stream of fate in balance. My story is based on the prospect that Naruto, Sasuke, and everyone else's lives are governed by celestial beings that are trying to keep the world in check by altering a few things. The black thing in the prophecy is basically something so evil, that the celestial beings had to fix up the mess by creating a force of good (cough Naruto's group cough) that basically trumps it to let the world equal out. The demons are NOT celestial beings, just another race.**_

_**DID I GET THE NUMBERS RIGHT THIS TIME????????????????????????????**_

_**I am introducing two new characters next chapter, Denkou and Haomaru. They are the Dragon and Bird respectively. Also, a pair of twins and possibly a few others will also be appearing. Hinata makes another appearance and Sakura and Ino begin training. Naruto will learn a few new tricks and Kasai has to put up with one hyperactive yellow persona. NEW INFORMATION ON MY PROFILE!!!! **_


	9. samurai, ghost, shadows, rose, puppet

_**Sorry for the long wait. This is one of my favorite chapters so far.**_

_**In this chapter I am using one of my favorite filler episode parts to add a pure human character for a bit of a guide to finding Haomaru (4 tail) and Denkou (7 tail). Sazanami is an interesting character even if he is only mentioned in the anime. Look for episodes 159 and 160 if you want to know who I am talking about. He will most likely only be in this chapter and I am kind of warping the geography to make it between Iwa and Suna to make the story make sense.**_

XXXXXXX

Chapter nine

XXX

"Ow…" The new and improved Uzumaki Naruto said as he limped along the road. The wolf and fox demons were brutal coaches. He shuddered at the memory of the "training" he was forced to do.

XXX

_Flashback_

"_Okay Naruto, we will start training here." Koori had stopped in front of a large lake with a huge waterfall in front of it. Large boulders rocks and pebbles made up the lake. The sun shown on the cascading water to create a rainbow. A happy façade to the place Naruto would consider a place of torture._

"_Can you walk on water?" Koori asked._

_Naruto nodded and walked onto the lake easily._

"_Good, follow me." Koori walked onto the lake and flipped over onto his hands in a handstand, still controlling the chakra. Naruto followed suit after a bit of flailing. Koori then put one hand behind his back and balanced on one hand, Naruto mimicking. The wolf grined and then balanced onto his index finger, it glowing with the amount of demonic chakra. Naruto tried and ended up falling into the water; with a shock he found it to be freezing cold. _

"_Oh and I am using my chakra to make falling into the water a bad thing. You must be able to do this before we continue."_

_Koori pushed off of his finger and landed gracefully onto the bank. Naruto tried for an hour and was able to stay on his finger for a few minutes. Koori watched and commented on his form._

"_Good. Now we will help you with meditation. In the heat of battle one must be calm. Koori hopped onto a rock that was under the waterfall and went into a trance, even with the hundreds of pounds of water pounding into him. Naruto tried to get under the falls, only to be blasted from his seat. _

"_You are a shinobi aren't you? Use chakra to stick to the rock!" Loki shouted from the bank, sharpening his weapons. _

_Naruto climbed and managed to get a seat after trial and error. He could not concentrate with the water pounding onto his back like a sledgehammer, though. Koori smirked and gave an okay sign to Loki, who immediately started throwing rocks at Naruto._

_When the first rock, around the size of a golf ball hit Naruto, he gave up trying to concentrate and threw it back, or tried to and was once again blasted backward._

"_WHATS THE MATTER WITH YOU?"_

_Koori laughed and walked out of the waterfall, "you must ignore all distractions, the water, the noise, and most importantly you must dodge the rocks subconsciously. Here!" he threw a black blindfold at Naruto. "Put that on and try again."_

'**This is going to hurt**_!' thought Kasai with sadistic glee_

_XXX_

"You guys are sadists you realize that?" Naruto complained. The demons had forgot to mention that the rocks became bigger every time he lost his meditation. Near the end he was pounded by rocks the size of a basketball. Loki seemed to enjoy himself by chucking the boulders at the kid's head.

"**If it keeps you aware of your surroundings, then we are merely helping you train!" **Koori said after he had transformed into his wolf form. Naruto was getting used to the bone and organ symphony and restrained a flinch.

What the wolf said was indeed true. After Naruto could subconsciously move his head to dodge the rocks, he was very aware of the environment. "Koori, how long until we get to this place?"

"**Ishi No Kuni is not far from here. Once we get to the end of this field and under that pair of rocks we should be close. I can sense demonic chakra in that direction**." The wolf plodded along the path towards a small natural archway. The landscape changed into a rocky cavern afterwards.

Koori and Loki turned into human form as they looked onto a small barren-looking town. Naruto instantly became more alert and Loki and koori also stiffened. Loki said to the others, "Lets ask around for someone who knows the geography. We can't rely on sensing charka for anything other than a broad range."

The others nodded in agreement. They headed down the rocky brown landscape to the village below to find a bar. Koori mentioned it was the best place to find information. Alcohol made lips loose and fogged the memory so that the demons would not be remembered.

As the trio walked through the town, everyone was staring at the newcomers. A few quick scowls and glares with a bit of killing intent from Koori and Loki made their eyes avert. However, half the female population was staring at Naruto with a different look. The boy gulped, '_Why are all of the women I come near suddenly attracted to me? Is it the hair?'_

He nervously tugged at his longer yellow and red hair and put up his hood of the cloak.

Naruto walked into the bar quietly and ordered a bottle of sake, due to the urging of Kasai inside his head to try the drink. The bartender glared at the boy, obviously doubting his age, but another shot of killer intent made him get the drinks. Naruto was still pissed off from the training even though the wounds had already healed. Loki and Koori also ordered the rice wine and looked around the bar. Naruto put down the money for the drinks from the plain black wallet that the Tsuchikage gave him.

Scar-riddled men glared at the newcomers over their drinks, a man in a hat lounged in a chair, the straw and sword slashed hat covering his face, and a group of men playing poker, one was a large bald man who gave the trio a piercing look and stood up, intent on teaching the three disguised demons a lesson. He looked at the slightly plump wallet and smirked.

"What are you kids doing with all of that money? Its dangerous around here, you should not be attracting so much attention to yourselves by waving around that much cash! I will hold it for you to protect it from all of the bad men around here." He reached for the bag, Naruto's hand grabbing the heavily muscled man's wrist.

"I am not in a good mood. Back off." He flipped the man over his shoulder with ease; using his newly grown muscles that Kasai gave him.

The brute hit a wall and landed on a table that was in front of the man with the hat. Crushing it with his girth. He staggered to his feet, "You wanna fight, brats?" He took out a short cleaver-like ax/sword.

Naruto took a lazy drink of sake, enjoying the burning feeling of it going down his throat, Kasai's chakra negating the alcohol's affect on the brain. He stood up and went into a lazy stance, "Sure, I am in need of some exercise."

Loki coughed to Naruto, "Not making many friends here, Naruto-san..."

The other bar patrons had began to take out knives and stood up threateningly. Koori and Loki also stood to get ready for a fight, giving off an air of confidence. The man in the hat stood up and passed Naruto a saucer of sake, saying, "Here, drink up friend. The bald one is paying for it."

The fat man growled in outrage at the stranger and shouted as he charged with the ax raised, "Do you want to be killed, dumbass?"

With a sword strike, too fast to see with human eyes, the man in the hat slashed his attacker's sword in half and knocked the fat man out with a blow to the gut. "Wanted: Manaka Michizou, Here bartender, you may have the bounty to pay for the sake and the table." He left the bar with a smirk, the three demons trailing him.

Naruto growled, "Bounty hunter-san, thank you but that was not necessary. I am strong enough to take care of myself."

The man turned around, showing his scarred face, brown eyes and gray-blue hair, "Hmmm, a boy with blonde and red hair, three dark scars on his cheeks, piercing blue eyes, and two unusual characters as partners, all wearing shinobi outfits. What would the three of you be doing in this area?"

Loki looked the human in the eyes. A samurai in this type of area was rare. He growled, "We are looking for someone who knows the landscape to help us find two people in the mountains."

The samurai smirked, the three seemed to be bounty hunters as well, "I apologize, I have just killed the last two bounties in this area. One was a man who had framed me for murder and the other was the man in the bar you just saw. I am headed back to my village to prove my innocence. My name is Sazanami." (1)

Koori gave a grin back to the man, "We are not bounty hunters, Sazanami-san. If anything we are wanted as well. This is Naru, a missing-nin, I am Koori, and this is Loki."

Sazanami gave a glance at Naruto, "I have not heard of a missing nin going by the name of Naru, nor have I seen your face on wanted posters, although the scars look familiar. What is your real name?"

Naruto grinned at the man, "If you lead us through the mountains, I will tell you."

The samurai laughed, "How can you trust me?"

Koori smiled, "The fact that you just asked that proves that you are. A thief or murderer would agree immediately. Also, if you try anything funny, I can run you through with _my _swords."

Sazanami looked at the silver-haired man and smirked, "Is that a challenge?"

Koori also grinned, "No, it's a promise."

The samurai laughed again, "Alright, I am in a good mood lately, I will help you, but only as far as my village and I expect payment."

The trio of demons nodded and the group headed off into the mountains, guided by the strange bounty hunter.

XXX

Hinata was not having a good day. The Hyuuga council to fight against her sister, and she was beaten, again. As punishment for embarrassing him, her father sent her out of the house for the night to sleep somewhere else on the rationality, "I cant bare to look at you."

The Byakugan's long range forced her to leave the house and find lodgings elsewhere. It began to rain as she wandered the streets of the village, the unusually bright full moon casting a glow into the rain, illuminating the falling droplets when it peeked out from behind the clouds.

After trying Kiba's, who was on a mission, Shino's, getting scared away by a loud buzzing, Shikamaru and Choji who were out on a mission with Ino, Kurenai was out on a date with Asuma, even a hotel, but she did not have enough money, so Hinata went to the only place she could go to, Naruto's empty apartment. Her tears mixed with the rain, she was cold, wet and tired. Her black training suit did not give off much warmth.

Naruto always kept the widow locked to keep out unwanted guests. Knowing this, Hinata had to use the spare key he hid under the loose floorboard. She found this after a bit of searching with the Byakugan. When she entered the room, she discovered that she could have used the window.

Bricks had smashed out the window panes, there was graffiti all over the walls, broken bottles strewn all over the floor, and the entire contents of the, at one point organized, room were trashed. She gasped at the state of the garden that Naruto had worked so had on. All of the flowers seemed to have been crushed and stepped on, the flowerpots thrown against the walls of the room.

"Demon spawn" and "Kyuubi bastard" along with other more colorful language were written on the walls in red spray-paint. Hinata began to cry again for the hate that Naruto had suffered through. After he left, the villagers must have noticed and ransacked his apartment. Hinata heard footsteps coming up the stairs and looked at the door, noticing two obviously inebriated men coming upstairs with spray cans and an axe.

She gasped and tried to hide before they saw her but it was no use.

"Hey, Mao (hic) there is a girl here." One man with black hair slurred to his partner. He couldn't see her clearly to see her eyes or even her face.

"Think she knows the Kyuubi brat? Heheh we will just have to teach her a lesson now wont we?" The shorter grey haired man slurred back, eyeing Hinata like a side of beef.

Hinata squeaked and looked on in fear at the approaching men, then she tried to back up, she did not have any of her weapons with her. "S-stay away from me. I am a shinobi!"

"She don't sound like a ninja, does she Hikia?" Mao said with a drunken smirk, "I think she's lying."

Hinata backed up even more, to the window, but the men were close. "I am warning you now…stay away!"

"Lets just have a bit of fun first (hic) to teach the Kyuubi's slut to stay away from the fucking demon spawn. That fox has given me enough shit, killing my wife." He reached forward to grab Hinata.

Something inside the girl snapped, '_you can make fun of me, you can threaten me, but don't you DARE insult Naruto-kun!'_

She shouted, "You are within my field of divination! Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho!"

The moon shown through the broken window, rain whipping in to the room as Hinata's arms began to move around her in an orb like shape. The moon reflected off of her wet skin and hair, making her glow with light like a ghost. Her Byakugan added to this effect, and chakra stripes from her hands caused the overall appearance of a specter from another dimension.

The technique that she had been developing to shoot blade like chakra out of her palms, effectively forced away the two men and hurt them. Her hands were moving at a super fast speed, becoming a blur. The men shouted in agony as they clutched at the small cuts that had appeared on their face, hands, and body, effectively sobering them.

"Stay away from this place! Never come back!" Hinata said coldly and forcefully, sending arrows of chakra after the men. They ran away, shouting something about a spirit.

XXX

The next morning, word was going round the village of a specter that haunts the home of the demon. They gave it names like "Queen of Blades," "Moonlight's Wraith" "The Demon's Witch," "Guardian of the Fox" "Dagger Ace" and "Spirit of Claws." (2)

No one even dared to walk past the building for fear of the ghost's wrath. The two men who first saw the spirit were telling their tale to anyone who would listen, showing passersby the cuts of the blades. The story became more exaggerated as it went on, "She had hundreds of hands, and each one had a three foot long sword in it and vicious looking claws! We barely stepped into the room before we were attacked! Her eyes glowed red from a fire within and she shouted at us that the place was sacred. I have never feared more for my life than that minute. Ten feet tall, hair as black as the night wearing the clothes of a priestess but black instead of white!"

The truth was that neither of the men were sober enough to see what Hinata looked like when they went up to the room. They only remembered the glowing white hands that attacked them, too fast to count.

Hinata walked along the streets listening to the stories, trying not to laugh. Rumors flew everywhere, but most were centered around one thing, "Don't go to the demon's apartment or the ghost girl will haunt your soul and slash you to bits."

Hinata found this rumor very helpful. She could hide out in Naruto's apartment and clean it up without interruption or fear of someone trashing the place. Also, if anyone became brave enough, she could henge into the "ghost" and protect it. She had already tried out creating the form inside the house and she believed it to fit the rumor, slowly becoming legend, perfectly.

She wrote to Naruto about the episode to get his opinion. Her fox kit that Naruto had given her before he left had been hiding in her pocket of her coat and seemed to be asleep often. She pet it on the head and the vixen yawned adorably. "Can you take this letter to Naruto-kun, Kitsune-chan?"

The fox hopped onto the scroll and hooked its paws and tail around the scroll that was only a bit smaller than it. The fox yipped and disappeared in a puff of lavender flames.

XXX

"Ruto-sama. Pweze wake up." A tiny voice said into the teen's ear in a kid's accent. He felt a tiny tongue licking his ear. He turned his head to look into the purple eyes of a fox kit. Recognizing the messenger, he picked up the purple fox and took the scroll.

"Ohayo. Do you have a message from Hina-chan?" The fox left his lap and headed to bug Loki for a snack.

Naruto's eyes scanned the letter, then looked up confused. "What the fuck?"

He reread every word then burst out laughing. He wrote back

_Hina-chan, you by far have made the best prank ever. How long can you keep it up? Maybe you should make the ghost your ninja alias. No one knows you are that strong, right? Make the ghost "haunt" the village! I love the jutsu by the way; it would be a perfect defense or offense if it doesn't sap too much chakra. Train hard! I will visit after I have found the rest of the biju._

_Love,_

_Naruto_

Koori pulled open the tent flap and looked at the letter and asked, "girlfriend?"

Naruto nodded and blushed a bit. Koori muttered, "Females are trouble. Emotions lead you to do stupid things, like leave your village to let it plunge into a crisis."

Naruto looked at the floor. Koori sat down next to him, his hand on his forehead. "Loki told me what happened. Arguments sprung up when we left, everyone blaming each other. It caused a political vacuum. Leaders were assassinated, leaving the clans in the hands of power hungry idiots if the ones the lords picked were not strong enough. Kasai's appointed leader was the only one to survive. I had picked my half brother, but he was poisoned by one of his attendants. Councils were overthrown in most clans as well. The clans separated from each other and built walls around their territory, becoming separate nations, instead of one united country. But the worst was yet to come.

"The plants we relied on for food had become infected with a disease, making them inedible and poisonous. It spread fast and soon infected most of the nations. People began to hoard food and increased price of trade. War broke out between the nations over the food crops that were not damaged. The world flew quickly into chaos. Populations decreased dramatically, many blamed the kitsune for not preventing the famine. Your clan is down to double digits in number."

Naruto solemnly said, "I didn't realize that it was that bad. We live in a prosperous world around here and it is hard to imagine that your world could be that bad. How can you recover from that?"

Koori muttered, "I don't know, Naruto. I just don't know."

XXX

Sazanami watched Loki cook breakfast, deep in thought. '_Who are these travelers? They are not as rugged as seasoned nomads; they look like shinobi and carry weapons. However they do not wear forehead protectors or run like ninja. They say they are looking for two people, but are not bounty hunters or on a mission. They have not even given me their target's names. They seem content wandering around the mountains, as if the two people will mysteriously jump out at them.'_

"Sazanami-san, would you like to try some rock snake? It tastes wonderful." Loki offered the man a de-scaled strip of meat on a stick, cooked to a brownish gold with many seasonings on it. Sazanami accepted the food with some hesitation. He was not appealed by the idea that he was eating a snake.

When he bit into it, the flavor was kind of flakey like a fish, but more like the taste of chicken and crunchy as well as chewy. With the seasonings, it tasted quite delicious and the bounty hunter went back for another.

"Excuse me Loki-san, what is the recipe for this delicious meal?" Sazanami asked in awe. He had tried many foods in his journeys but this one was in his top five favorites.

Loki explained the recipe with enthusiasm and even wrote it down for the fellow traveler. Cooking and pranking were almost equal in the fox's mind, but he enjoyed pranking a tiny bit more. He handed another snake to Sazanami and watched.

The traveler bit into it expecting the first taste, but only tasted red pepper. The "snake" henge disappeared to reveal red pepper coated wasabi. The man jumped up and down, his tongue on fire, tears streaming from his eyes, screaming in pain.

Koori walked out of the tent with Naruto and watched their guide for a few minutes. Then the wolf pulled water molecules out of the air with a bit of strain and turned it into slush for the man to drink. Sazanami gasped as he finished the water and ice. Then he glared at the fox that was laughing on the ground rolling.

"I offer to help you three out of the goodness of my heart and you try to poison me with atomic food!" he ranted at the laughing figure.

"Loki you pranked our only chance at finding Denkou and Haomaru?! What were you thinking!" koori also ranted at the fox.

'_Well at least I know what the target's names are.' _Sazanami thought with a sweatdrop His tongue still burned from the wasabi.

Naruto sighed at the antics of the other fox, "Sazanami-san I apologize for my friend, he has a bit of a habit of pranking people"

The samurai chewed another ice cube and said, "Just don't prank me again."

The man smirked, then laughed, "I knew I should have checked the food!"

Naruto sighed with relief, they did not lose their guide because of a bit of spicy food. He was extremely glad that Sazanami still trusted them.

"Idon'tknowwhatthatguy'sproblemisIlikespicyfoodIttastesfgreatilikeitburntheroofoffyourmounthspicy." Naruto had to withhold a loud groan. His happiness persona had escaped into his mind.

"_Kasai aren't you tying to keep them in their rooms? And why was the Spaz one let out?I don't need that much energy right now." _

Kasai was wrestling with the bright yellow speed demon (pun intended). "**I don't like these guys invading my territory either!" **

"_Did Logic leave?"_

Kasai wrestled the yellow pain-in-the-ass back into his room and shut the door before the vibrant neon yellow room could hurt his sensitive eyes.

"**Thank kami! Yes, he did. I think he stole my notebooks and pens. He said something about writing down stuff that was bothering him. I will get you a copy if you want."**

"_Sure why not. Wait…why do you have all that stuff?"_

"**I was an author when I was in the demonic realm. **_**Bakemono's Fantasy **_**was my best series. It was the erotic tale of a wolf madly in love with a fox, but she refused to break her chastity at first but-"**

"_That's enough thank you, Ero-kitsune."_

"**Aw but I wasn't done explaining the best scenes!"**

"_No. I may be sixteen on the outside but I still am not a pervert. I am still faithful to Hinata and will never read…or listen to that shit."_

"**I was rich from writing that! You should continue my work when we get home."**

"_Don't get me wrong, writing seems like a fun hobby, but I am not transferring your ideas onto paper. I would much rather write down Logic's stuff than yours."_

"**Too bad, I was hoping I would win that bet." **Kasai shouted through the brown door into the lair of the stoic persona, "**Hey, Logic! He agreed to it! You're in business!"**

"Thank you very much Kasai. I will be finished in a few days."

"_What did I just do?"_

"**Agree to copy Logic's works and sell them to make some traveling money of course! Don't worry I will help you write it. I found a jutsu when I was a kid that writes down your words as you say them. It makes writing much faster. By the way you might want to stop talking to me, the others are staring at you again."**

"_Teach it to me later."_

Sazanami, Koori and Loki were watching Naruto's face change. His eyes were closed but his face reacted to a multitude of emotions ranging from confusion to disgust to annoyance. It was as if he was having a conversation inside his head. Koori and Loki merely watched in amusement, knowing the reason for this behavior, but Sazanami was a bit disturbed by it.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the three faces awaiting an explanation. He coughed embarrassed, "Um…Mind-Link Jutsu?"

Koori and Loki looked like they were holding down a fit of laughter at the jinchiruki's excuse to explain Kasai.

Sazanami looked skeptical but then said, "No named one, you are extremely strange." He turned back to his fried snake, testing it with his tongue before biting it.

Koori looked at their breakfast and whispered to Loki, "You realize that Orohime is going to kill you if she finds out you fried some of her relatives."

Loki paled, "hadn't though of that…well we do not know where she is right now so we just won't tell her, mmkay?"

"Fine." Koori said as he bit into his food. "This stuff is too good to waste"

"So Sazanami-san, where is you village?" Naruto asked the slightly quiet bounty hunter.

He responded with a smirk, "Its been so long since I have been there, but I still remember the place. It lies in a forest past Kagegakuri or Village Hidden in Shadows and beneath the Mountain of the Demon's Fight."

The three exchanged glances, koori asked, "Unusual name for a mountain. Where is it?"

Sazanami's eyes glazed over in memory, he pointed to a far away peak, "See that mountain in the distance? The one that glows red in the sunlight? On the summit lies a great crater where two giant celestial creatures emerged from the mountain a few years ago. They immediately began to battle on the peak, seemingly even in power. The hidden village sent out its ten best seal masters to stop the two powerful entities, but they only could create a barrier, and died for it. The demons are contained up there to this day. Only a few people dare to venture inside the barrier, I believe that the only ones at this point who are safe from the demons if they go in are a pair of girls, twins I believe. They were orphaned when their father, one of the seal masters, died, but everyday they visited the demons. The demons never attacked them either, for some strange reason. Anyone else who is brave enough to enter is almost instantly mauled."

Koori Loki and Naruto exchanged glances again. Naruto stood up, "Sazanami-san… How do you feel about knowing the demons exist?"

The bounty hunter smirked at the unusual question, "I was a simple blacksmith. I did not really know much about the demons until I started to travel, and when I learned about them, I was interested in them. A dragon and a firebird locked in combat for years, only allowing a pair of women to enter. Where did they come from, and are there any more? You have to see them to understand it."

Koori and Loki nodded, koori asked, "Sazanami-san, we understand more than you know. We have only known each other for a few days, but do you trust us?"

The silver haired man laughed, "I trust you and the unnamed one. The redhead, not so much. I am a pretty good judge of character."

Loki laughed at being singled out. He stood up and said, "Tell me, samurai, have you ever crossed blades with a master of daggers?"

Sazanami smirked, "Is that a challenge?" he drew his sword.

Loki flowed into a stance, two sliver weapons glinting in the sunlight. "You bet!"

The two warriors began a dance, Loki parrying Sazanami's blows, both going at a speed not many human eyes could see. Koori and Naruto watched with their demonic sight, trying to capture the dance in their eyes.

Sazanami knocked a dagger out of Loki's hand after a long time. Loki managed to parry the longer sword with his dagger and dodged under swipes. Finally the fox's adrenaline pushed him over the edge and his tail appeared and grabbed the knife when he had captured the sword in a stalemate. He brought the tail that was holding the dagger to the now shocked samurai's throat and gasped in huffs of breath, "I win."

The grey haired man eyed the red fox tail with amusement and shock, "You cheated!" (3)

"Demon." Loki brought back his tail and smirked, "You are taking it a bit better than we expected."

Naruto and Koori punched Loki's head down in tandem, "BAKA!"

Sazanami glanced at the trio with more awe and humor, "Let me guess, you are not human either. I almost guessed that you were looking for the other demons when you seemed so interested in the mountain but I was not sure. Why aren't you killing mass amounts of people anyway" The last part had a hint of fear.

Naruto and Koori glanced at each other and transformed into their half animal forms. Naruto spoke first, "**No we're not completely human, and we are looking for the two other demons. The dragon is called Denkou and the bird is Haomaru. Both are leaders of our world who disappeared. The air in the human world causes insanity, it acts as a hallucinogen to us if we do not have the correct jutsu. We will help the two recover from the toxins if you allow us to save them. Will you still guide us there?"**

Sazanami looked relieved at the fact that the three would not attack any villages. Then he looked at koori and noticed an addition to the wolf that appeared when he changed forms. He said with a smirk, "Only on one condition."

Koori groaned, "**What**?"

"You must let me see those swords, they are exquisite! Are they made by the demonic race?" He appeared by the two swords that were attached to Koori's back. They were in a sheath of orange-red leather decorated with gold leaf. The hilts were ornate leather engraved with beautiful and slightly glowing blue- teal seals.

When koori drew the blades for the ex-blacksmith to view, they were a brilliant turquoise-silver and almost glowed. The blades were thin and sharp, elegantly curved at the top. The metal was not any element known to the human world. They were an exquisite work of art.

"These blades are known as the **They were made by the best blacksmith clan that the demon world has ever known, the Neko clan. It was made by one of their leaders, Kanetsune. They are made of an element know only by a few demons called Desmonium. A substance harder than diamond and can channel chakra with ease. It is frictionless and can cut the hardest rock without dulling or staining. Flawless and perfectly balanced, fire, acid, and ice proof. These blades have seen more battles than any other swords and are over three-hundred thousand years old. Don't get fingerprints on them.**" Koori said with quite a bit of pride and handed them to the now astounded blacksmith to hold.Everyone likes a stroked ego.

Naruto also looked at the blades in awe, "**I didn't even know you owned those blades!"**

"**I am a lord of a clan, what do you think I use in battle? Toothpicks?"**

Sazanami was more than impressed. He tested out the swords with a slight swing, and overestimated the amount of force needed. The blades were so light that they barely needed any force to swing. He cut straight through a boulder that was in the path of the blades. He scratched his head in confusion then handed the blades back to the twitching wolf with a huge sweatdrop on his head. **"You just used two ancient battle katana to make mincemeat out of a rock… What would my ancestors think?"**

"Sorry about that…" Sazanami had been using the same sword the entire time he has been on the lamb, and he had taught himself to fight with it too. The overestimation of the swords threw him off guard.

Koori, Loki, and Naruto both turned into the forms they preferred. Koori as a full wolf, Loki as a half fox and Naruto as a human with long ears and nine tails. Naruto did a yawn stretch and sighed, glad to be back in his "normal" form.

Koori flipped onto his back in front of Naruto and whined. Naruto snorted a laugh and crouched down and gently scratched the wolf's stomach with his elongated claws. Loki started laughing when the wolf made the canine equivalent to purring.

Sazanami shook his head, "What the hell am I getting myself into?"

Naruto heard him, but only smirked. The group of four started traveling closer to their destination.

XXX

"A ghost…you want us to investigate a ghost…" Neji deadpanned

"Oh I must see this example of youthfulness from after death! Such a strong spirit to live its life to protect the abode of a loved one!" Lee posed and smiled blindingly.

"You say it uses swords? What type of blades?" Tenten asked curiously.

The three gennin stood in front of Tsunade, receiving a mission from the woman. Neji seemed skeptical, Lee was…himself, and Tenten was interested in the details of the specter.

"The report from the two who were attacked only gave basic details. It uses swords and chakra like a shinobi, but has an otherworldly appearance, and by otherworldly I mean it had lots of hands. Pay is for a basic C-Rank mission and you guys are on your own seeing as Gai is out training. Mission starts in three days and you are to stay in the building until you have evidence of the ghost or that it is fake. Visual witness counts as proof, the villagers aren't paying much. Good luck."

The three ninjas bowed and left to pack and Tsunade smirked at the document for the mission. "I don't know if it is friendly, but going by the descriptions of what those guys were trying to do, I think I like this Spirit."

XXX

Elsewhere, Hinata was sneaking groceries into Naruto's apartment, hiding from anyone who could see her. She stocked the fridge and began cleaning the mess. After a few hours of hard work, a bottle of paint remover, a feather duster, lots of soap, a mop, a broom, and a new windowpane, the room was back to its original state. Hinata sighed in relief at the room.

The apartment complex was actually deserted because no one wanted to live near the "demon child" and news of the ghost had actually caused a few of the neighboring apartment complexes to vacate. Noise was not a problem. The only reason why the building had not been torn down was fear of the wrath of the demon or the ghost.

Hinata replanted a few of the ferns and flowers that Naruto had grew and watered them generously. Then she began working on her trap. Someone passing a chakra string when they entered the apartment complex activated the trap. It would cause them to be captured in a genjutsu (something she learned from Kurenai with a bit of tweaking) that created sounds of motion in the floor where Naruto lived. Sharpening blades and cackling would increase and then if the intruder stepped onto the top step of the stairs to the floor of Naruto's apartment, all noise would stop immediately. Hinata even rigged the lights in the hallway to flash on and off. In actuality, the top step would summon Hinata into the apartment. She would then hide in the room to resort to the jutsu if necessary.

If the door to the apartment were opened, the intruder would see a little girl with dark black hair and pale skin. Her head would be cocked to the right and a small smile on her face. She would grow if the intruder came closer, turning into a tall woman, arms spurting out of her flesh until she had five on each side. Blades would extend from her palms and the hands would clasp around them.

One arm would point to the three and the figure would say a few recorded sayings such as, "You have once again disobeyed my orders. I told you never to return to the hero's domain to defile its sanctity. You have ignored my warnings. Prepare yourself to taste my blades."

The sayings are different every time, and Hinata was having fun creating them.

"You dare to enter this holy place to disgrace my lord's memory? You will suffer my wrath."

"Humans, you enter this place with foul intentions? You shall never leave this place alive."

After the sayings, the figure would screech a loud battle cry and if the intruder did not leave the room, Hinata's specter would do a recreation of the jutsu Hinata used from the first time, while a disguised Hinata finishes the jutsu to summon the chakra blades. The entire trap could be canceled at any point with the ghost fading away.

If the intruder did not leave the place after getting hit with the chakra blades, Hinata would begin to fight like a shinobi, her henge in place, however she doubted that anyone would last that long. She would back off and say something like, "You have braved my swords, what is your true intention for coming to this place?"

If all went well, the trespasser would tell the phantom. If not, Hinata was busted.

As a final touch, she added a very obscure jutsu onto the room by drawing four seals onto the corners of the room in her blood. Her father had taught it to her to allow her privacy in her room. It blocks the Byakugan's gaze for seeing into or out of the room. She sighed and flopped onto the bed, happy to fall asleep.

XXX

It was getting late and the four travelers still had not reached the city. They were deep in the mountain pass, rock walls blotting out the sun, thousands of cracks caves and caverns to create enough shadowy hiding places to hide an army. The group was getting jumpy so they set up camp.

To kill time and dampen their nerves, Koori was teaching Naruto his Taijutsu style.

"**NO! WRONG AGAIN! ITS BITE, TEAR, FLIP, THEN EVADE, NOT EVADE, BITE, FLIP, AND TEAR!" ** The wolf was in his anthropomorphic state and whacked Naruto with the back of his summoned scythe. Naruto was in his fox form and trying to train by following the directions of the wolf but it was pretty hard when the prey he was using was one extremely battered training dummy that Loki had in one of his summoning scrolls.

It had a poorly drawn doodle of Sasuke, copied off of the team picture in Naruto's pack. The ex-blond requested it and Loki supplied the sketch.

Sazanami watched in amusement as the yellow and red fox gave a dirty look to the wolf and growled its disapproval.

"**DO IT OVER FROM THE BEGINNING!" **koori shouted again and sat down on the ground by the fire, "**Hey Loki, am I being to rough on the kid?"**

"**Nah, he is going to have to lead the kitsune and you lords to stop the war, he is going to need to be tougher. NARU, YOU NEED TO PRACTICE WITH THOSE SWORDS AFTER YOU PRACTICE TAIJUTSU!" **Loki shouted, using Naruto's fake name.

He whispered to Koori, "**I think we should find a better fake name. Naru is too close to his real one, I think he used Kasai's name for going through Iwa, but I don't think that will work… and we don't want it to be too hard to remember either. Oh well, it doesn't matter now." (4)**

Naruto padded over to the pair of demons and flopped onto his stomach and muttered in annoyance, "**You guys are drill sergeants. I will tear your hearts out with a spoon." **

"**Why a spoon?"**

"**Because, you twit, it's dull, it will hurt more."**

Loki nodded and then smirked, "**You know, Naru-kun, if you do not train more, you won't survive being a lord."**

"**why do I have to be a lord again?"**

Koori laughed, "**because Fate hates you and Kasai didn't find a better spot to park his insane ass."**

Kasai shouted indignantly from Naruto's head about it being the other heir's fault that he was stuck inside the boy in the first place.

Naruto smirked and said, "**Fuzzball says that you are right and that it is all his fault"**

Kasai continued ranting at his jailor and then began to scheme inflicting pain.

Koori laughed at the half kitsune's commentary, then he wacked him with the scythe and then shouted, "**Loki get out there and start training, if you want to be a guard you need to work for it!"**

"**Watch it wolfy, or I will turn that stick into a toothpick" ** he threatened as he got up to practice his genjutsu on his unknowing target, wondering how the wolf will look in pink…

Sazanami listened to the banter from the sidelines, enjoying the night sky by the firelight. "Hey No-name, want me to teach you a few things?"

Naruto turned into his human form, with tails and ears, and walked over to the swordsman with interest. "Sure, old man. I need a bit of sword training."

He pulled out the two blades that he received from Tenten's dad and smirked. Sazanami matched his grin, "All right kid, now, your first task is to attack me, head on and aim to kill."

"WHAT?"

"trust me."

"Your funeral, old man." Naruto shrugged and then attacked the man, his speed extremely fast and the two blades swinging independently from each other. The samurai easily dodged, causing Naruto to continue running and then Sazanami thumped Naruto on the back with the butt of his sword, giving him a nasty bruise and making him fall onto the ground. The swordsman did not even lose his hat in the process.

"Wrong. You have no skill with a blade whatsoever. Those blades were crafted as one sword, not two. Do not try to attack as if you are holding two swords, make them flow together, almost as if they are still one. Those blades are fine work, far better than mine. Use them wisely. I do not have the energy that you demons have. I am going to bed."

He went into his travel tent and shut the flap on the shocked demon. "_He has got to teach me how to do that!"_

XXX

After another day of walking the group was fast asleep in their tents, Loki on watch. He scanned the canyon they were still in and looked to the south towards their goal. He sighed, and thought, 'Two more lords are joining Naruto. Soon they wont have any need for a kit like me…Should I ask Naruto if I can be his guard or will I go back to the Demon Realm?'

He sighed and barely registered that he fell asleep, featherlike figures falling around his head, blissfully unaware of the shadowy figures creeping down the cavern walls.

"The creature is asleep, Captain?" A ninja in a black uniform asked, a symbol of a wavy circle on his metal headband strapped to his arm.

Another ninja nodded in confirmation, "Genjutsu- successful, though I am not sure that he would have stayed awake even without the jutsu. Check the tents and bind the ones inside, we will take them to the Interrogation Squad. Pay attention to binding the tails."

XXX

"Barako, your mission is to find the Kyuubi. He has escaped from me too many times. Go with Sasori and find him at any cost. Bring him to me Our spy in shadow has informed me of three strange creatures with tails. Capture the Kyuubi and the Rokubi. Kill the spare." the leader's voice was seething and he spoke through his teeth. He was feeling extremely annoyed t the lack of information about the biju. The escape from his human prison that Zetsu described was a fake, obviously. No other biju had escaped from their human and he did not underestimate the seal the beast was under.

The vampiress and the puppet master nodded and quickly left the room, both avoiding the leader's wrath.

Barako looked at her new partner with distaste. She would much rather have Deidara as her partner, the puppet master hardly ever spoke, and when he did, chances are it was not kind to her, he disliked her with a passion. She eyed the ring and cursed her father for dying and leaving his debt to her.

He was a slave to the leader, one of the first. He had racked up enough years that the leader had kidnapped her (age seven) and promised to kill her if her father did not cooperate. So when her father committed Seppuku when she was fifteen, the years of enslavement transferred to her. She bore a deep hatred for the leader, but knew she was no match for him alone. The ring glared back at her like an ugly scar. She quickly packed and departed with the puppet master to Shadow, plotting revenge against the man who ruined her father's and her own lives.

XXX

Naruto awoke to the unpleasant feeling of being hung by his wrists, his tails bound and his legs in shackles. He growled in rage and snarled, "**That traitor! Sazanami betrayed us!"**

"Little problem with your accusation there, kid…" Sazanami grumbled from the set of wall shackles next to the demon.

"**Oh…"**

"**Owww, my head…this is worse than that time I challenged Saga to a drinking contest…" **Loki moaned from his position next to Koori.

The wolf just simmered in rage, "**How dare they disrespect a demon lord like this!**" Then he winced in pain, he had awoken before the nins captured him and had attacked, still drowsy. He was cut along his side by a kunai before the genjutsu took affect.

The room barely held much light, the only illumination coming from a few dead light bulbs on the far walls and the crack in the closed door. The dull light sown on instruments of torture, well worn in their use, stained red with blood.

Loki shivered at the sight, his anthropomorphic form feeling the cold and damp climate as well.

Naruto growled at the idea of being chained, his tails were not even given an ounce of moving room. A chakra sapping device planted on the chests of all of the demons and Sazanami, slowly weakening the two part humans, but Loki and Koori were not affected. Koori had a long scratch around his side that was bandaged (to keep the wolf alive for questioning) but it was still bleeding. The blond felt anger towards the shinobi who dared to try to hurt his friends, Sazanami already looking pale due to his lack of demon chakra and his low amount to begin with.

"Naruto, may I come out to play? I feel your rage simmering under your skin for the fools who captured you, let me give them a bit of heat." Rage's voice simmered from the back of the demon's mind.

Kasai glared at the figure, "**If he attacks these shinobi, they may not help to save Hao and Denkou. He can't get through a demon barrier!"**

Naruto saw the logic in that and let himself calm down. Rage snorted at the lost opportunity. His armor clanged together as he stalked back to his door, flames burning the grass as he walked.

Logic came out of his door and said, "You figure out how we're escaping yet? No? Too bad." His voice stayed monotone and then he disappeared back into his door.

Kasai gave a mental image of a shrug to Naruto them sat down by his desk and began to write.

"_You guys are so damn helpful." _Naruto said sarcastically to the fox.

The door in the cell opened up to reveal a brunette girl with a long pony tail, black shinobi clothes and a shadow armband. She had a vertical scar that started at the top of her forehead and ended on the tip of her nose. "Well, I have to admit, when the captain said I had a few interesting prisoners, I was not expecting this."

Her eyes scanned the few hanging prisoners and widened when they landed on Sazanami. "Oh Kami… Saza-kun is that you?"

The human looked up in surprise, "Zaka-chan? When did you join Shadow?"

She gasped and hugged the man in relief and shock, tears running down her face. "It is you! Oh, when I heard your name was cleared. I was so happy! I joined after you left! I couldn't bare to go without you so I decided to go here in the off chance I might run into you on a mission, Oh Saza-kun its been so long!"

Koori looked at Loki and then asked, "**Do you feel like you are missing something too?"**

"Oh, OH! Let me let you down, this must be a huge misunderstanding. The caverns have been swarming with bandits and they thought that you four were them, at least until they saw your…ahem extra limbs?"

She let the shinobi and samurai hop down and disengaged the chakra sappers from the four. "I am sorry for my fellow shinobi wounding you Ookami-san. May I be so bold as to ask, why do you have tails anyway?"

The demons exchanged glances and then said simultaneously, "**Bloodline."**

"Why do I doubt that is the truth?"

Sazanami laughed, "You guys better tell her, she has a bit of a bloodline too. Zaka can tell when someone is lying to her."

Koori muttered, **"lets just leave it at we are not entirely human."**

Zaka's eyes widened, "Like the Two Warriors?"

Sazanami translated, "Dragon and Bird."

The demons nodded Loki stated, "**We have come to rid them of the hallucinogenic affects of the atmosphere." **

"Then you must see the council! Come with me! Those two have had a drain on our shinobi for years!" The girl sounded excited at the idea of the demons becoming free.

XXX

"So you three-" A woman with black hair and bright green eyes started to say.

"-are the brave souls-" another woman continued, looking exactly like her twin.

"-who are going to free the Two?" Concluded the first twin.

Loki stared in awe, "Do you two practice that?" Naruto elbowed the fox in the ribs. All three demons were in their human forms and were standing in a small elevator-like lift that was taking them to the top of the mountain. The twins were named Oolong and Gingko and Naruto could not tell them apart except for the kimonos that they wore which the trees that they were named after decorated. They were about the same age as koori and Kasai.

"Please don't hurt Ryuu-kun-" Oolong began.

"Or Tori-kun. They have been" Gingko said next.

"our only companions even though"

"they always fight each other."

It was like watching a tennis match. Naruto said, "Of course we won't hurt them, we want to save them from themselves so they both do not get hurt."

"Thank you!" The twins said simultaneously.

The elevator screeched to a halt as they reached the summit. As the group exited, they saw two figures standing in front of the barrier, the large shapes of the two demons barely visible behind the shadow like wall.

One looked like a scorpion and the other was a female with blue hair and pale skin. The scorpion muttered in a gravelly voice, "Five demons in one spot? That is a new record."

The woman glared at the scorpion like man and said, "Well, leader-sama said that we only need the Kyuubi and Rokubi, so I am not even bothering."

"Its not like I need your help anyway."

The woman smirked, "Hey, your funeral Sasori-kun. Hear that, buji-kuns! Leave me out of this." She walked over to a rock on the side of the peak to watch the battle begin.

Naruto stood dumbstruck, "Aren't you from Akatsuki? You are supposed to want to kill me!"

The woman snorted, "As if! I did not even choose to be in this group anyway. I only stay because he will kill me if I don't."

Sasori snorted, "Traitorous bitch."

Koori looked at the pair and asked the woman, "Do you by any chance know a Deidara?"

Barako looked up sharply with an audible crack, "Deidara-kun? Why do you want to know?"

"I met the guy earlier on a shopping trip. Nice guy, good taste in art. He had no clue that I was a biju though."

Barako looked a bit shocked. Sasori glared, "I hate waiting lets get on with this!" he whipped off his cloak and showed his armored body.

Naruto got on guard and allowed his tails to grow out and his body to morph into his anthro form, Loki following his lead, and shouted, "Koori, can I trust you to protect the twins? You were the only one injured by the shadow Nins and I don't want to lose you! Get help from the demon realm if you can! Loki and I will handle this guy!"

The two demons stood on guard and faced the metallic puppet with egger glares in their eyes.

The twins started to chant and make handsigns and soon a small portal in the barrier turned silver. They shouted in unison, "Go into the barrier! You could fall off the edge if you don't stay in! It is the least we can do to help!"

Naruto pulled out his swords and Loki took out a pail of ordinary explosive note kunai and threw them at the scorpion. The massive figure laughed at the puny weapons and dodged with ease, until the missiles turned and followed him, blasting him back into the inside of the barrier, Naruto and Loki in hot pursuit.

The twins shivered in fear, "Kami protect them."

Koori took one last look at the battlefield, "I need to hurry, I don't know how long they can last." He ushered the twins into the elevator with a nod to Barako, and a threat that still carried to her, "You better not hurt my friend." He then disappeared into the descending elevator, the jutsu to the Demon world already on his lips.

Barako took a look at the barrier and mumbled to herself, praying for guidance. Then she stood up and ran into the barrier after the three fighters, ready to assist.

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

_**1. Sazanami has already killed the thief from the episodes that he appeared in so that he can help Naruto and the group in my story. No team from Konoha was sent to Stone to find the thief. **_

_**2. Please vote on which of these names should be Hinata's. Other suggestions would be nice too.**_

_**3. In an alternate storyline Loki says "Pirate" in response! I love Pirates of the Caribbean. **_

_**4. ANNOUNCING THE NEW CONTEST (because I am too lazy to figure a name out) CREATE NARUTO'S ALIAS! If I do not get many suggestions I will just let them call him Red once they find out Naruto is the Red Whirlwind and for now call him Naru. The Choices will be placed on the beginning author note in the next chapter along with the voting results of Hinata's nickname. **_

_**Ah how I love a good Cliff hanger. You can't yell at me yet, I have not had one this entire story. Barako is going to help, but which side will she choose? Loyalty to the group she has been with for her entire life or to these strange newcomers who are fighting for the side of good? **_

_**Lots of pretty drawings of my characters on links in my profile. I have now drawn Loki, Koori, Denkou, and Rage (because armor is fun to draw. I will warn you I am not the best artist and my scanner sucks so some of the pictures you cant really see because they are only pencil, but look anyway! **_


	10. battles, fillers, Yondaime

_**Ok I am back from a long grounding session due to spending too much time on fanfic and not enough time on homework. This chapter may be a bit confusing and a lot of you are going to be pissed at me for the whole "Yondy" thing but I want Naru-kun to be able to master his bloodline. The only way he can do that is for the lion to come out of his den.**_

_**Here is how the voting is going**_

_**Hinata's Alter Ego:**_

_**Bladed ghost: 1**_

_**Reihime (offered by yuki)**_

_**Yuureimiko (offered by yuki)**_

_**Moonlight Wraith: 3**_

_**Guardian of the Demon: 2**_

_**Demon's Witch: 1**_

_**Queen of Blades 2 **_

_**Kayou (means frequent haunting offered by tsukiyomi-chan)**_

_**More voters would be appreciated greatly.**_

_**Naruto's Alias:**_

_**Hiaki (yuki, means autumn fire)**_

_**Akifuu (yuki)**_

_**Kachuu Chikuwa; Chikuwa (means tube-shaped fish paste rather than fish paste made for soup and Kachuu can mean vortex or nobility depending on the kanji. Yay for puns! Nukenin suggested these)**_

_**More suggestions would be appreciated **_

XXXXXXXX

Chapter 10

"_**Gods, demigods, and authors"**_

"**demons, demonic voices, ghosts"**

"_mind speak"_

'_thinking'_

" personas"

"_Light"_

"**Dark"**

XXXXXXXX

Hinata was startled from her sleep with an alarm that meant that someone had entered the building. A second alarm sounded after the first, signifying someone attempting a Byakugan scan. The second alarm was a common occurrence, her family had been trying to find her ever since she left, but Hinata had no wish to return to that house and back to her old life. She quickly donned her shinobi garb and disguised herself with a simple illusion next to the door and waited for her victims to arrive if they ever got up the stairs.

Neji looked through the floor to the room that they were assigned to investigate, a bit shaken by the noises. Tenten had firmly latched herself to his arm, a wicked looking mini-scythe in her other hand, eyes darting around the corridor. Lee was a bit quieter than usual but his enthusiasm was not dampened in the least. Neji frowned when he only felt a stinging in his eyes causing the Byakugan to fade. He clutched his head in annoyance and pain; it was as if a presence was blocking him from looking in.

The boy had never attempted to look in Hinata's, or any other Main Branch rooms, like most of the Branch members, and did not know of the special protective jutsu to block the Byakugan.

"I can't see in. There is something blocking my sight," He grinded his teeth in annoyance. Nothing should be able to stop the Byakugan; it was the most powerful bloodline in existence.

Tenten looked at her boyfriend in concern and held her scythe a bit tighter. The moans and sharpening blades were getting louder, now accompanied by a mad laughter and footsteps.

Lee marched forward, intent on discovering what this spirit had in store for them.

They ascended up the stairs, trying to ignore the flashing lights. Tenten said in a soft voice, fear evident, "we only needed proof of the ghost, right? We have witnessed this, can we go now?"

Neji looked at his girlfriend and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him in a protective manner. Lee stopped and turned around to comfort the girl, "Do not worry Tenten-chan, I assure you that this spirit will only attack those with harmful wishes against the room itself. We should be safe from this protector of Naruto-kun's memory."

Hinata heard the voices outside and used her Byakugan to see who it was, the wards only preventing it from looking in not out. She gasped at the trio and disbanded the recorded illusion and henged herself into the ghostly specter. If her fellow genin were here, they obviously came on a mission, not to harm Naruto's room. However, she knew that she couldn't let go of the ghost yet, and this was the perfect opportunity to spread the legend. She let confidence fill her as she got into the part of the specter, excited to test her acting skills.

The door creaked open, three shinobi at the ready peeking through the door.

The ghost looked at them with disdain, her dark hair spilling around her semi-transparent shoulders, her outfit a kimono of sorts, but many arms coming out of the sleeves. Moonlight shown through the window, making her ectoplasm skin look sparkling. Her eyes showed little love for the three shinobi, but her blades were sheathed.

"**What do you want humans? I doubt that mere children would be defiling such a holy place such as this. The hero of Konoha's memory tarnished by the acts of mortals. I request that you do not glare at me like that, Hyuuga. Those eyes will not work on me thank you." **Hinata internally thanked Kami that she had used a similar protection to make sure the illusion was also Byakugan proof. Neji continued to use the technique until the pain increased enough to force him to turn off the eyes.

"**Arrogant child, you, like the rest of your family, rely too much on your bloodline. If it was disabled you would be reduced to mere fodder in a battle." ** Hinata let loose her inner thoughts on her clan, the disguise giving her a lot more confidence than normal.

Neji attempted to charge the ghost, but was held back by Tenten, who shook her head. She threw the scythe at the ghost's head, which merely passed through it without slowing. Internally Hinata sighed in relief that the ghost was so much taller than her and that Tenten did not aim for her gut. The girl had restrained herself from dodging the attack and the ghost replied to the attack, "**Now that you have satisfied your curiosity and know that I am intangible, **_**Answer my question or I will see to it that you become very well acquainted with my blades." **_

The trio gulped and Lee said "We mean you no harm Spirit. We only are to prove you exist-"

"**To make sure I am not some drunken imaginative creation? To prove to the kami-forsaken villagers that I will kill them if they continue to mistreat their savior's memory? Let me tell you now, my little interviewers, I am here to make sure that the unsung hero of this city is remembered, be it famous or infamous. If anyone dares to step through that door with ill intentions, I will gut them like the vermin they are. Oh, and tell your kage to come to negotiate with me sometime, I believe i lost a bet with her." ** Hinata said the only thing she knew that would cause Tsunade to come over here, winning a bet was bad luck for her and would cause the kage to be interested enough to come over. "**Now, leave! And Hyuuga, one more thing."**

Neji turned around and looked at the spirit. "hai?"

"**I suggest you should tell your Clan Head that his daughter is safe and has been taking up residence in the woods by a waterfall. The Branch members scanning the village have been annoying me this entire week!" **The ghost said in a serious tone, knowing that Neji would have been worried for his cousin. This would also take care of the Hyuugas who have been coming through to check why the area was blocked. Hinata just let the recordings take care of them. She even said a location that she knew would take a while to find; after all it was her favorite hiding spot when the weather was nice.

XXX

The three ninjas left and breathed a collective sigh of relief as soon as they exited the building. Neji was annoyed at the fact that not only had the spirit insulted his family multiple times, but also it had succeeded at where they had failed. He bid his partners farewell and left to tell Hiashi the whereabouts of the rogue heiress. Tenten walked to the Hokage tower, shocked at the night's findings and emotionally distressed at some of the ghost's words, but still having duty on the mind and wishing to tell her idol the cryptic message, as well as hand in the mission report. Lee was determined to train more to honor the memory of the boy he wished to consider his friend at all costs.

Hinata disbanded the henge and began to run to her hiding spot in the woods before the other clan members, careful to not be seen.

A few hours after she arrived and created a mock camp, three Hyuuga Branch members appeared and requested that she come home. One of them she recognized as her father's personal bodyguard said as soon as he saw her, "Hinata-sama, thank kami you are safe! You father was so worried that you had been kidnapped or hurt or-"

Hinata let part of her old personality fall back as a mask but also let her newfound confidence make itself known, her voice was soft but had a sharp edge to it, " I am sorry for making my father worry, but why does he care about me leaving? You know as well as I do that he only wants to protect the Byakugan and the purity of the bloodline. I am sorry but I will not come back with you."

The three branch members had the neutral Hyuuga faces on, but Hinata could easily read their emotions from being around that so much. They were shocked, and also they were a bit afraid. She sighed, "My father threatened you didn't he? If you didn't come back with me he would activate your curse seals, right?"

The trio exchanged glances, giving Hinata all of the answer that she needed.

"If I ever become Clan Head, I swear I will find a way to abolish that damn seal." She muttered under her breath, shocking the three who partially had never heard her curse before and also that she supported the ban on the seals.

"Hinata-sama..." The three guards had gained a bit of respect for the girl.

"Fine. I will come back, but I will be leaving that house as soon as I talk to him, whether I have his permission or not." The girl stood up and began to walk back to the village, three awe inspired guards with new loyalties in her wake.

XXX

Kakashi flopped onto his bed, full ANBU gear still on. It was heavy and stained with blood, but his muscles were too tired for him to care about the sheets of his bed. As normal, as soon as his mind cleared from the battle, it focused back on his fractured team. Sakura was taken into apprenticeship with Tsunade, Sasuke was in the hands of the enemy, Naruto was dead. It was a clear example of how he had failed as a sensei. He rubbed his hair back and turned to look at the two pictures on his nightstand.

Arashi smiled back at him with a bright grin, somehow familiar but still as proud and cheerful as he remembered it to be. Obito and Rin looked back at him and he could imagine them berating him for giving up so easily. Kakashi sighed and escaped into sleep.

He awoke hours later to a tapping on the window of his room. He sprung into a defensive stance on instinct, only to relax when he saw the white mane of hair signifying the perverted toad sage. He opened the window and allowed the man to hop into the room.

"Kakashi, how are you holding up? You have not bought one of my books in ages!" the sannin exclaimed, although there was little feeling behind it.

Kakashi sighed and responded, "I just do not have the time for those books, Jiraiya-san. I just don't feel it is right now that…" an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Jiraiya studied the figure of his student's student in worry. The man looked like he had not been eating much and working himself too hard on missions. Tsunade told him that the man rejoined ANBU so that he could be sent on B through S-Rank missions constantly. He did not look well.

"Kakashi, I think you should take-"

"take a break? Why? Naruto could handle this, I cant disrespect him by not fighting in a _war. _Also, I am fine. I can handle a few S-Ranks, I did it all the time last war and you know it! You have no right to tell me when I have to step down when you were not even here to stop both of your students from dying! Get out of my house!" Kakashi raged at the sannin, losing his calm façade at lack of sleep and increased stress.

Jiraiya's face flashed a look of hurt at the words of the silver haired man. He knew it was half untrue, but it still hurt to think that the silver-haired man blamed him for the deaths of Arashi and Naruto. His eyes hardened into a look of disgust. He bit back, "Honoring his memory? You think that killing yourself in a mission is honoring the boy? You are not a teenager anymore Kakashi. Grow up and get over your self-pity and move on with your life! Arashi sacrificed himself for his village, Naruto was hated but still continued to serve the village, and even Obito died saving a friend. You would die as a coward by getting offed by starving yourself or getting killed by overworking yourself, and you consider _that_ honoring the dead? You would disgust them. I came here to ask for your help on a top secret mission that only three people in this village even know about, and I find you in such a state, and then you even say that I have no right to help you? Heh… I wonder what your students would think of their great sensei now…"

The white haired man had one foot on the windowsill and was about to hop out the window when he looked back at the silver nin and said in revulsion, "Maybe you are like your father…"

He left a lone Kakashi sitting on his bed, looking at a photo of his teacher, a tear threatening to fall out of his eye. '_What should I do?'_

XXX

The horned death god paced back and forth in his office. He was in deep shit with the boss and he still had to explain to the blond shinobi. He sighed and exited the room to find his secretary his long white robes and hair trailing behind him.

Kazama Arashi, or the ex-Yondaime Hokage, was busy with a large, never ending stack of paperwork. He muttered curses underneath his breath to the Shinigami for taking him out of one hell and into another. "He says my soul is too pure to burn in his stomach for all eternity so what does he do? He makes me in charge of his paperwork, the lousy bastard."

Sandaime looks up from his job and says, "At least you get to sit down! I am stuck mopping to floor!" The Third Hokage's soul had been reverted back to the age of thirty years on his own request. His hair returned and her was at least five inches taller than he had been in life. In his hand was an eternally wet mop, cleaning up the blood and tears from the new arrivals before they receive their level of hell.

The afterlife was broken up into different levels. Depending on how tarnished your soul is, you can be sent back to life as a newborn without memory of your old life, be cursed to never be reincarnated, burn in the death god's stomach, or other tortures, such as do chores for all eternity. The level Arashi was stuck on was considered the "offices" and was completely white.

Arashi rubbed the back of his neck in an old habit, thinking of his son that he had sacrificed to the Kyuubi, then only to find out that he sentenced not one but two pure souls to fate's cruel hands. The death god explained the multiple universes that are connected in a web and explained how the higher-ups accidentally messed up and allowed two worlds to become connected, causing the one world to be on the brink of extinction, therefore needing to be fixed by some divine intervention.

"_**Arashi, I need to speak with you. Sandaime, you are on paperwork duty for a while."**_

"NNNOOOOOOOOO! I thought I escaped that!!!!!" Sandaime howled in pure agony as the Yondaime dragged him into the chair.

Arashi closed the door to the office and looked up at the ten-foot-tall god. You were only summoned if something bad happened to your family, friends or enemies. He began to sweat, worried for what news the god had in store for him.

The death god sat back in his chair and rested his head in his hands, surprising the hokage.

"_**The fate of your world is in the hands of a fourteen year old. Your fourteen year old to be exact. And right now, things are not going as fate planned. Your son is in a confrontation that should happen three years from now. His enemy wishes to take the Kyuubi who is inside your son and by taking it out, it will kill him. He has awakened his bloodline four years in advance as well, and he will need it in order to defeat the foe his is up against. If he uses it now and the way he is headed in, it will kill him as well. If he doesn't fight the two rampaging demons in the area will kill him. His friend may die as well in this fight, causing the darkness inside your son to take over, resulting in the deaths of your entire world. "**_

Arashi stood dumbstruck and then began shouting in cold rage at the unfairness, " So he will die either way? Bullshit! You have to save my son! I caused this mess, let me help fix it! If my son dies because of my actions, my wife will destroy _me!_ I don't care if it is not allowed just send me back!" The Yondaime glowed with pulsing bright yellow chakra from the bloodline, his eyes morphing into the four pointed lightning bolts of the final form of the bloodline, his body beginning to vibrate at super fast speed.

The Shinigami watched this with calm eyes, used to the over protective shinobi parents. "_**Calm down, what are you an Uchiha? I was getting to that. The boy needs Kami's help to defeat the one he is up against. We have solved the problem of his friend dieing by sending someone who was dark into the light, however we can not stop the darkness from escaping unless we send in someone. Considering that you willingly gave your life up and I never filled my part of the bargain, I.E. digesting Kyuubi's soul. We are giving you another chance to save your son, HOWEVER," **_ the god shouted at the look Arashi was giving him, "_**If you dare to do something that STUPID again, I swear I will make sure that you will have enough paperwork to last THREE eternities, WITH your bloodline!" **_

Yondaime eeped and nodded turning around to leave.

"_**Oh, and Arashi?"**_

"Yeah?"

"_**you are sworn to secrecy about the afterlife." **_ The death god looked completely serious about this and Arashi knew if he disobeyed this rule, he would not be on the earth much longer.

" _**I will send you to someone you can trust to take you to your son. The first person you see, tell him that he must take you to Naruto to help. Oh and I will be able to contact you if you need assistance."**_

"Thank you Shinigami-sama." Arashi bowed as low as possible to the death god and then was hit by a thousand bursts of pain and blacked out.

XXX

Koori ran as fast as possible with his slashed side trough the woods, trying to find a spot to draw the runes to teleport to the demon world. The twins had already gone to warn the Shadow-nins of the S-rank criminals in the area but he doubted that anyone would get there in time. Suddenly he smelt the strong scent of ozone in the air, as if a storm had sent a lightning bolt to strike the ground. He looked up at the sky in confusion, there were no clouds in sight.

He headed to the spot and saw a human climbing out of a crater in the ground, his blond hair and facial structure strangely familiar. He was dressed in a long white coat like Naruto's but it had flames and the kanji for Fourth on his back. On his forehead was a headband with the symbol for Konoha on it. Perhaps the most startling thing was his eyes, which were a bright electric blue. He seemed to ooze power and chakra.

Arashi felt energy and chakra coursing through his veins, his mind in euphoria at being alive again. All worries about Naruto were diminished somewhat and he took a nice long inhale of fresh air. He wanted to allow himself to revel in life for a bit, but his sense of urgency nudged at the back of his subconscious.

Arashi looked somewhere around thirty. He was in the exact condition he was when he fought with Kyuubi, even having the exact amount of kunai on his person, his three pronged ones included. He looked up at Koori with interest then disappeared in a bright flash of yellow light.

Koori jumped in shock and looked around only to find that the man had appeared by his tails and asked, "Ookami demon right?"

The wolf human hybrid nodded, still in shock. He got over it and realized each second he wasted with this strange human was another second that Naruto and Loki were fighting the Akatsuki member. "Yeah but I don't have time for this I have to help-"

The man finished his sentence, "Naruto? I know that is why I am here."

The wolf narrowed his eyes, "You are from his village. Are you here to take him back?"

The bright blond laughed, "I have not been to that village in years. By the way, where did that bastard send me? Where are we?"

Koori looked at the obvious shinobi in confusion, "We are in a forest bordering Shadow."

The Man nodded and said, "My name is Arashi. I am looking to help save my son. I need you to take me to Naruto. He is in grave danger."

"Your son or Naruto?"

"Yes. Now lets get moving. Where are they fighting?"

Koori narrowed his eyes in suspicion and used is demonic powers to see the man's aura. He wanted to make sure that this man could help before he showed him to his leader. He almost fell over in shock. The man did not have blue chakra like a humans' but almost pure white with flecks of yellow and a color that not even Koori had ever seen. It was almost as if this man was not from this world or even this universe. The aura encased the man in ethereal light and seemed to give off the illusion of wings on his back. His eyes were voids of that non-color and Koori had to evade his eyes from the sight. He muttered in awe, "W-what are you?"

Arashi gave him a look in all seriousness, "A man who has been given a second chance to help this universe. Now, will you help me?"

Arashi looked at the reopened wound on Koori's side and reached toward it, hands bathed in a white chakra. Koori tried to edge backwards but failed. The white chakra touched the wound and healed it instantly. Koori looked at the man in wonder. He stood up and walked into the woods, motioning for Arashi to follow. They were going to need a man with that kind of strength on their side. He could help stall for time while koori summons the other demons.

XXX

Barako felt her fangs growing as she anticipated the upcoming battle. She ran into the rocky valley, covering herself in the dusty dirt as she sprinted through the wreckage of the tossed rocks and sand. She saw her targets fighting in the distance but before she could even get near, two giant figures blocked her path. The two demons stalled in their attacking and set their eyes on the intruder. With a screech from the phoenix and a roar from the dragon the two demons flew at Barako.

She saw the two approaching forces and muttered, "Shit."

The dragon hurled lighting bolts from its tails and aimed for the vampiress. The Phoenix threw balls of red hot fire that splattered and threw shrapnel like fireballs when it hit the ground, which also split, creating a deadly net of fire, causing the vampiress to have to constantly dodge to not be incinerated.

"For kami sake! I am trying to help your friends over there! Give me a break!"

Fro some reason the dragon fluttered back as if in surprise, then continued to hurl lightning bolts. Barako guessed it noticed some logic in her words. She dodged the fireballs that the bird threw and shouted in anger as one barely missed her.

"Quit it! I am going to get hit!"

Again the dragon started. Barako's eyes widened, "You like my rhyme? I guess I have to be poetic this time."

The dragon looked surprised and fluttered in place, its forelegs cradling its head. He roared as if in pain and shook, as if he was trying to throw off the insanity capturing him. The bird continued to attack unperturbed. Barako dodged, intent on not being incinerated. The bird trilled a fierce song and dive-bombed the vampiress. Its talons gorged the earth where she at one point stood. "I hate this damn fire, at this rate I am going to stop rhyming and tire."

She thanked her lucky stars that she was forced to take lessons in poetry. The dragon was now grounded and seemed to be holding its breath. Barako noticed the opening and made a break for the trio of fighting shinobi.

XXX

Naruto dodged the metal tail once again, panting. The battle had been mostly defense and avoiding so far. He threw another ball of purple foxfire at the living puppet and was annoyed when it was merely dodged. Loki had been throwing everything he had at the puppet but nothing seemed to make a dent in the armor. He threw a giant ax at the thing and watched as the puppet turned into sand. "Suna-bushin!" He leaped up and dodged a strike by the tail.

The giant scorpion puppet's tail spun around it like a defensive ring. Puppets flew into the air all around them. He was growing weary of toying with the shinobi. "Come now, Kyuubi-san. I grow bored of your pitiful attempts at hurting me. Bring out the power of the nine tails!"

Loki began to take care of the flying puppets and let Naruto take care of the puppet master. Naruto grimaced; he was avoiding using Kage Bushin for fear of calling upon the bizarre group of clones. He decided to take a risk and called up two bushin as an experiment. Out of a ball of fire and a puff of yellow smoke came Rage and Energy. They bowed to Naruto; Rage very stiffly and forced, and took out their weapons. Rage's flaming blade threw a bright light against the armor of the Puppet. Energy's daggers glowed and vibrated, creating a chainsaw like effect.

"Interesting, is this a new technique? I have never seen anything like this before." Sasori said in curiosity. He crouched down and began to attack the duo. Energy attacked by running around the puppet, changing directions to confuse him. Sasori shot his tail out and almost clipped the clone's shoulder but missed at the last second. Rage leaped and attacked from the air, trying to stab the scorpion's back, but was knocked away by the tail, the harsh clang of metal on metal rang through the air. The clone landed in a crouch and roared an almost inhuman battle cry then attacked in fury, molten plasma shot out of his arms and showered the Akatsuki member. Energy sent out a few lightning bolts and the smell of ozone filled the air once again.

The puppet master emerged unscathed by using a Suna bushin. He appeared behind Loki, who was distracted by a puppet and he stabbed him with his tail. The fox coughed up blood.

Naruto turned and saw his friend, an evil looking metal spike protruding from the kitsune's stomach. The fox looked at him with sad eyes and gasped saying, "**T-take him d-down Naruto-sama. I-I am proud to have served under your leadership. L-lead our people to victory!"**

Sasori ripped his blood coated tail out of the fox's gut and the kitsune fell to the ground, a pool of blood being created under him.

Naruto saw Loki fall as if he was going in slow motion. The memories of the prankster fox flew past his eyes, the kit's bright eyes turning dull and lifeless. The fox would never have the joy of seeing his world at peace, never seeing the other biju lead the demons out of war, never see his friends or sister again. The image of the vixen whose eyes would tear up at the news of her brother's death, another casualty for a war he was never meant to fight.

Inside Naruto's mind, Kasai watched in horror as the black void like door began to open. The horrible figure of Dark emerged from the abyss and howled in victory. He turned into a black smoke and flew upward into the sky of the mindscape. Like a disease the black spread out, red veins streaking it. The grass of the field turned to ash, the sun blotted out. For the first time in his life Kasai felt truly afraid. The sky was a pulsating dome of void with red glowing veins the other doors began to crack. Giant spire like rocks erupted out of the ground and trapped the fox lord from escape.

Kasai thought, '**Naruto had better be okay.' **And then he blacked out.

Outside Sasori watched in interest as thick black chakra pulsated out of Naruto. Rage and energy screamed as they grew spider web like cracks then shattered. The boy yelled as if in pain and he rose up into the air from the power of the black chakra. The puppets around him burned up with the energy and were destroyed. Rocks and dirt flew away from the dark power. The eyes of Naruto burned black and void like, his hair grew and turned black, his skin turning pale purple white and gaining red vein-like scars everywhere. His clothes were covered in the black chakra and became a pure black robe. His claws grew to foot long dagger-like claws and black vein covered bat wings erupted from his back covered in blood. They beat the air, causing the boy to fly higher. Nine pure black tails grew from his pelvis and floated behind him. The dark figure cackled madly, "**I am FREE!" **

XXX

Barako watched this horror appear and cursed herself for being too late. She looked back and saw the other two demons cowering in fear of this dark figure. Finally she saw the blood covered body behind Sasori and ran to it, seeing the fox from earlier.

'_He turned into this creature because his friend was killed!' _The vampiress thought. She rolled the fox over and examined the damage. He had a massive hole in his chest that was still bleeding profusely. A purple poison was pumped into his bloodstream as well. She felt a weak pulse but it was fading fast.

She weighed her options. If she saved his friend, the dark Kyuubi may be forced back. If that happened, then Sasori may kill him. She could save him, but the price would be astronomical. She could try to heal him and remove the poison but it may take too long and he would die, or she could turn him into a vampire and sentence him to a half-life. She did not even know if it would work on a demon! Making up her mind, she began to try to heal him.

XXX

Sasori looked at the dark…creature rising above him. The dark figure was giving off an aurora of pure evil. It was darker than anything that Sasori ever felt. It radiated an untamable bloodlust and a thirst for death and chaos. Even the leader was not as evil as the monster in front of him. Sasori felt a cold grasp clutching his heart. It was fear, pure unrivaled terror. The figure sent a small ball of pure black chakra at the puppet body. Sasori dodged but the ball exploded into projectiles that embedded into the puppet and dissolved it like acid. Sasori escaped from the scorpion like body and switched to his Kazekage puppet.

The puppet of the Kazekage began to shoot iron sand at the figure. Sasori watched in dismay as the pellets were blasted back by the force of the black chakra. The pellets tried to encompass the demon but were disintegrated within a second of touching the pure evil demon. The Darkness arced off like lightning and struck the puppet, once again forcing Sasori out and into his true form.

The figure looked down almost as if he just noticed Sasori. "**So…You are the human that caused my "true" self to hate so much that he called up the Dark chakra….honestly I expected someone a bit more…imposing? You got lucky and killed the kitsune over there, causing me to come out. I think that deserves a reward don't you?"**

Sasori backed away in dread. He did not want anything from this thing. His normally stoic look was still there due to the immobile face of the puppet that served as his body but inside his soul was quaking in terror. The man valiantly struck out with his entire arsenal and as flames poison missiles and blades were struck away, the attacks became more panicked and erratic.

The dark demon pointed a finger at the puppet and did a set of one handed seals. The dark chakra turned into an orb of pulsating darkness. Light bent and curved around it, getting sucked into it like a black hole. With a shout of "**Yogirai No Jutsu!" **(world eater) the black orb shot off oth the demon's finger. Right before it flew into the body of the puppet master and pierced the container holding the man's heart Sasori as a last ditch effort threw the ring off of his finger, finally relieved of his curse. A scream of excruciating pain was heard as the dark sphere consumed the body. From the outside it looked as if the body was collapsing in on itself. The wood collapsed and finally all that was left was the black orb. It itself shrunk and disappeared into thin air, leaving only a ring a few feet away.

XXX

Kazama Arashi ran to the battlefield and watched in horror as the boy he knew to be his son rose into the sky and morphed into a dark caricature of a demon. Koori gasped in disbelief next to him. The Yondaime saw the creature dispose of the Akatsuki member cruelly and then ran to the scene. He scattered his kunai around the area to gain flash points. Then he shouted to the demon, "Hey! Get out of that body or else!"

Dark turned to the new challenger and scrutinized his face. "**Back off newcomer. This is **_**my**_** body now and what could you possibly do against me? I am the strongest thing in this country and I will not waste my valuable time fighting with such a lowly life form. I took over this body fair and square!"**

"Correction to your earlier statement. You _were_ the strongest thing in this country. Kazama Arashi, former Yondaime of Konoha, S-class spirit guide under Shinigami, and current father of the boy you have taken over! Now, do I have to force you out of my son's body or will you give up willingly?" Arashi shouted in complete calmness ignoring the fact that a few feet away a wolf was staring at him in shock. The Yondaime's golden aurora countered any fear and darkness that was trying to intimidate him.

Dark laughed cruelly and said, "**Fine. If you were sent back to life for your son, then come take him!"**

Arashi channeled his golden chakra to form wings and flew to an equal level with the demon. He charged up a pair of Rasengan and merged them together to form a giant orb of light. The demon countered with an equally large dark Rasengan. Both flew at each other at high speed and collided in a massive explosion in the air. Both shot out from each other and then charged again, using aerial maneuvers to get to the opponent's weak side.

Arashi formulated a plan as he flew. He didn't want to hurt Naruto, just the malevolent spirit that had just easily wiped out one of the most dangerous missing-nins on earth. He quickly thanked the death god for the almost unlimited chakra that he supplied. This was going to be a long battle.

XXX

Naruto was floating...or falling…or flying in a void of empty space. The world was still; there was no noise, no smell, nothing to touch, and nothing to see except his body. No gravity pulling him so he hung limply in space. He felt completely alone and was panicking due to the lack of senses. He shouted and was rewarded with reverberating echoes of the shout. The sound waves bounced off of nothing and created a painfully loud noise. It was then that Naruto realized that he was not breathing. He tried to force himself to get air but then he realized that he did not need it.

'_I must be in my mind, but why is it so dark? Where is Kasai or Logic or any of the others?' _Naruto looked around and spun trying to move but then he realized how futile it was. There was no way he could even tell if he was moving.

Suddenly a faint pop rang into his ears. A bright white square appeared out of thin air. He gasped in surprise. He tried to move to the square only to run into it. It was hard like glass. A picture of Dark popped onto the screen.

"**Hello, Naruto-san. Thank you for the body, it is so nice to finally have control over **_**your**_** life. This will be your portal into what is going on while I have power over you. It will show you how I systematically kill anyone and everyone that you have ever been in contact with! Let me show you what is going on!" **Dark's voice rang with sadistic glee. It showed a picture of Dark obliterating the puppets and easily killing Sasori.

Naruto felt ill at the sight. The dark parody of a Rasengan devoured the missing nin without a single drop of blood. It was as if the death was as easy as someone pushing a button.

The sight also showed the other Akatsuki member bending over Loki's body, her hands glowing green. Naruto's eyes widened. '_That's healing chakra! Loki is still alive if the woman is healing him!'_

"**Don't get your hopes up Naruto!" **Dark said with a chuckle that filled Naruto with dread. "**I am going to kill those two next!"**

"_NO!" _Naruto said in rage and agony. Suddenly a shout was heard from the screen. Naruto looked to see a figure that he had only seen on the Hokage Mountain and in textbooks at the academy. The Yondaime Hokage was standing on the ground, alive and pissed off. Koori was behind him looking afraid and concerned.

Naruto's brain went on autopilot when the Yondaime shouted that he was his son. It all made sense, the bloodline, why he was chosen to hold the Kyuubi, his life, how the "Red Whirlwind" the supposed son of the Yondaime had been rumored to have appeared in Iwagakure at the same day as Naruto without running into each other. He was the Red Whirlwind. He was the Yondaime's legacy. He was the son of a Hokage. He had a father.

Dark appeared on the screen. "**I hate to break this to you but I am going to cut this reunion short. That man is going to die again and **_**kami damn it **_**he'll stay dead!"**

Naruto watched as the two forces collided and fought in the air. He watched his father battle against the incarnation of Darkness to save his soul. Millions of emotions coursed through Naruto's head as he watched, but he knew that he had to help his father. He made a sign and focused his chakra, watching as it seemed to burn away the blackness. It only touched a bit before he couldn't hold it.

Naruto watched the screen as a claw managed to scratch his father's back. Arashi shouted in pain but still managed to flash away in a streak of yellow light, leaving afterimages and blood in his wake. Another figure appeared in the void. The armor clad warrior grabbed Naruto's arm and pumped his chakra into the boy. naruto pushed chakra out through more of his body and the black creeped away from him like an amoeba.

The screen showed Arashi slam a Rasengan into Dark's back beneath the wings. Happiness and Logic joined Rage and helped power the chakra to fight off the darkness.

Arashi dived, Dark on his tail, closer and faster to the ground. Finnaly Arashi pulled up, his robe scraping the ground but uninjured. Dark was not as successful but managed to pull up breaking off three long claws in the process. Envy, Lazyness, and Romance joined as well, forcing a ground to appear in the mindscape, burning off a lot of the darkness.

Naruto fell to his knees with the amount of chakra he was burning off but he kept going, knowing that his father's only hope was if Naruto helped to get rid of Dark.

Dark dive-bombed Arashi and crashed into the man and sending both of them into the ground causing a crater to form. Dark held a remaining claw, lined with dark energy at the man's throat. Naruto looked on with despair and Sadness joined as well as Light, completing the group. Kasai walked out of the void and also powered Naruto. The darkness receded out, and outside a change was occurring.

XXX

Arashi watched as Dark clutched his head in pain, screaming in agony, slashing Arashi shallowly in the arm beneath the shoulder instead of the throat. It shouted "**NO!!! NOT NOW!"**

Arashi leaped up and knocked back the demon, readying a Rasengan incase the demon was bluffing, ignoring the burning in his arm. He watched as the dark figure staggered backward and kneeled in pain. His eyes widened when the demon looked up. The void-like eyes were slowly turning back to normal, his hair shortening and turning back to its red and yellow state, claws receding, dark clothes turning into a torn red coat and black shinobi garb, his wings were being pulled in with a horrible cracking sound and his fangs shortened to their normal state. The tails turned red-yellow and became limp. When the transformation was complete, a boy with red-yellow hair, nine tails, and Arashi's bright blue eyes was kneeling on the ground.

With a weak smile and a wince, Naruto whispered, "Hi Dad." Then passed out.

Arashi picked up the boy and carried him bridal style out of the crater, his shoulder throbbing, but once again it was ignored. He smiled at his son and internally promised to take better care of him.. He carefully placed Naruto down to look for Koori. When he walked near, he was greeted with the sight of a giant wolf trying to take two other demons down.

Koori was fighting both Haomaru and Denkou by himself. The two were alternating attacking the wolf and each other, neither being successful. The wolf heard a shout and saw Arashi sprinting over.

"Hold them down!" the Yondaime shouted as he flashed through seals. Koori summoned a wall of ice out of a could overhead and trapped Denkou to focus on Haomaru. The giant dragon roared at the wolf sending lightning blots out of his mouth as he struggled against the ice.

Arashi finished the jutsu Shinigami taught him before he left and blasted the Seven tailed demon with it. The dragon shrunk and passed out, exhausted. The giant phoenix was putting up a valiant fight but soon was captured by the wolf's tails. He began to char the ice demon with flames. "**Hurry! I can't hold him for long!" **Koori shouted. Arashi flicked the last sign and soon the bird was also incapacitated.

With a sigh of relief, Arashi watched as Koori shrunk down to a normal size. The wolf turned human then got a look of panic. "Where's Loki?"

Arashi's eyes widened then he flashed to the spot where the female Akatsuki member was crouched over the body of a fox-human hybrid. She was grunting in pain and concentration as the healing chakra sealed the wounds, but she couldn't hold out much longer.

Arashi kneeled next to her. "let me take it from here, Akatsuki-san."

Barako gratefully collapsed after moving away and received some much needed rest. Arashi looked at the half healed wounds and noticed the poison. He gently covered his hands in chakra, remembering some basic medical training Tsunade gave him. He gently pressed against the wounds and then pulled out the poison, then repeating, each time getting more blackish purple liquid out of the fox's veins. When he was sure he removed all poison from the bloodstream and organs, he began to heal the damage. After fifteen minutes of healing, the fox was breathing comfortably and his pulse was once again strong.

Arashi looked at the diverse group of demons and humans and sighed. He then felt all of his muscles contract and only when he did a face plant onto the ground did he realize how dangerously low his chakra stores were. The stress and lack of adrenaline allowed the pain of his arm to break through. It felt as if a burning hot iron was spreading around the arm. He succumbed to the pain and collapsed into unconciousness.

XXX

Naruto woke up in a large and comfortable bed. He opened his eyes to the unmistakable whiteness of a hospital room. His joints groaned and his back was burning like hell. His head was pounding and throbbing. He groaned in pain when he realized that Kasai's chakra didn't heal him due to the amounts of Dark chakra that had poisoned his wounds. The chakra had to burn off the darkness before it could heal. Hesitantly he sent out a mind thought to Kasai, "_Hey, are you still there? Is everything back to normal?"_

A loud groaning sound answered the boy, "**Don't think so loud! I have a massive headache! I was sucked into oblivion for ages until you finally called me from that dark hell!"**

"_Imagine how I feel! That void was where my mind was supposed to be!" _

"**That explains **_**so**_** much!" **The fox laughed.

"_Shut up!"_

Naruto looked around the room. The three chairs near his bedside were filled with the sleeping forms of the three demon lords. Koori was asleep slumped on the armrest. A man with medium length burnt orange hair that stuck up like a Mohawk was asleep in a pile of cards. He wore a dark green, almost black coat, resembling Tsunade's, but it lacked sleeves and had the Kanji for bird on the back in bright red. Under that was a tight fitting black shirt and a black vest. Around his neck was a collar that matched Koori's, signifying his Lordship. Next to him was a gold harp and a flute, showing his hobby was music. Across from him was a man with mint colored long hair. He was also sleeping on a pile of cards, but the stack of poker chips next to him obviously showed that he was victorious. He wore a dark navy blue coat identical to the man across from him, but it had the kanji for dragon on it in bright yellow. Another collar showed that he was a lord. Both men had talon like fingers and pointed teeth, however both were in human form. The most unusual part of the pair were their ears. The bird one had wing like sets of feathers coming out around a hole. The dragon had frills also surrounding a hole. It seemed like neither had tried, nor cared, enough to hide these unusual appendages.

Naruto looked around for his father and was disheartened by his absence. He groaned in frustration and Koori shot awake and ran over to the bed, "Naruto-sama! You're alright!"

"Must thou yell so loudly? Vile liquor hast hurt me soundly. Hangovers be my undoing, but should noise continue, your entrails shall be stewing!" The dragon said poetically, yet still full of venom.

The bird one gave a glare, " Denkou, should I tell you that it was your idea to make gelatin shots in the first place while we waited, or shall I sing it?"

Denkou snorted, "Hao, if you start to sing, my ears shall ever ring!"

Hao smirked, "Then quit the rhymes and shut up! You are not the only one with a hangover. I will never let you convince me to try sake jello again." (1)

Naruto watched the exchange with amusement. "So, you two are the four and seven tailed biju?"

Hao and Denkou stopped glareing at each other and walked up to the bed. Both agreed.

"Hai young master, we were freed from prisons that we were the castor."

The others cringed at the forced rhyme. Hao said in annoyance, "Denkou, what color is Koori's hair?"

The dragon looked confused, "Why dear Hao, his mane is silver…Shit"

The others burst out laughing at the poet who was busy trying to find a rhyme for the word.

The bird turned back to Naruto, "Yes we're the ryuu and tori biju. Denkou over there controls lightning and has a nasty habit of trying to speak in all rhyme. I am a fire master and I am a musician. Denkou is a decent aerial fighter but more of a strategist. I am aerial support and long range fighting. Both of us would be happy to tutor you while you hold Kasai in your head. Tell him that we are still pissed about the gravity prank and are pissed that he managed to find a way to dodge our vengeance."

Inside Naruto's head, Kasai was laughing manically. "**That was the best!"**

Naruto nodded, "nice to meet you guys. Denkou, if you don't talk to me in rhyme I would greatly appreciate it."

The dragon's shoulders slumped. "Its always the same no one likes good poetry…Hao makes me say orange or silver or purple or month every time. Damn non rhyming words."

Naruto nodded in fake sympathy. "Um...Koori do you know where the Yondaime went?"

Koori's eyes darkened and he wouldn't look Naruto in the eyes, "Naruto, you father was hurt… in the battle, he was gouged by a poisoned claw in the arm. He didn't heal it right away, and the darkness poisoned the wound. Even his new chakra couldn't burn off the toxin," He looked at Naruto, "His arm was lost."

Naruto looked down at his hands, the ones that grew the claws that hurt his own father. Without an arm, a shinobi's career was destroyed. They cannot form handseals or even hold a pair of kunai or a sword. He had single-handedly forced the Yondaime hokage to retire from being a shinobi. "Are you sure that his arm can't be saved?"

The wolf shook his head, "Arashi gave his permission to amputate it. The surgery happened a few hours ago. He is in the recovery room next to yours."

Naruto sighed; once again he had ruined a person's life. "Am I allowed to go see him?"

Koori grimaced, "I don't even think you can get out of this bed for at least a few hours."

Naruto tried to force himself to get up. Fire shot through his spine and forced him back down. He yelled in pain. Denkou handed him a pain relieving pill, which was gratefully accepted. Hao shook his head, then said, "So, now that we have time, how about we teach you some battle tactics? You will need it if what Loki told us was true. The demon world is a mess."

Naruto nodded, he might as well spend his time wisely. His thoughts turned to the fox that was injured so badly. "How is Loki, is he okay?"

Koori nodded, "The Akatsuki member, Barako, for reasons we can not comprehend, had healed the fox while you turned dark. Your father finished the process after she could not continue. To thank her, we disguised her and brought her here to recuperate. She went against orders to save him."

Naruto nodded remembering the scene from his time in the void.

Denkou walked up and said, "Now that that is cleared up, I will start your training. You will be given a scenario of a battle and you have to explain how to achieve victory, I will say it in terms you will understand instead of demon rank. You fist scene is this: You are the kage. You have an army of twenty jonin, sixty genin, ten ANBU and fifty chunin and are heading to battle against a much larger army, but it has no ANBU and ten jonin lead by one sannin. You have the high ground and the battlefield is a large plain that is surrounded by trees. The other army does not know of your existence yet. How do you plan to incapacitate the army?"

Naruto thought hard, "The ANBU could infiltrate the camp without being noticed and take in the layout of the camp. The area where the sannin resides should be a main target as well as the entrances and jonin. The enemy chunin and gennin would most likely be training and therefore the most likely to wander away from the camp and discover us. I would set up a perimeter of half of the genin forces around the field to locate any enemy nins that leave the camp. A jonin should accompany a team of three genin, in case of attack or discovery. Should any foes be found, they should be taken as prisoner preferably, but if not possible, they should be killed. A genin or chunin should henge as a prisoner and enter the camp, attracting as little attention as possible, but collecting information in the camp. We would wait for nightfall and surround the army, then attack, chunin in groups of five according to strengths, jonin leading genin teams and ANBU preventing escape. If we have any summoners we should send them into the camp to attack the sannin's area. We should also be wary of message hawks sending requests for reinforcements. We attack fast to prevent escape or mobilization and to catch them off guard. Half the troops should stay in the woods to create a second wave if necessary and to refresh the tired and injured. Medic nins should rotate around the area to help heal injured and all enemies should be incapacitated, killed, or taken prisoner."

The demons nodded in approval of the boy's detailed plan. Koori asked, "What would you as kage contribute to the battle?"

Naruto said, "I would help take down any summons and the sannin, however I should have at least one ANBU near at all times. After the Sandaime was killed by Orochimaru, I find it wise to never roam alone."

Denkou nodded, "A leader must fight with his army. If a lord is not brave enough to fight with his subjects then the lord is not strong enough to lead."

Inside Naruto's head Kasai and Logic were amazed. Naruto did not need either of the two's help at all creating the topic. It was as if someone had released the floodgates of Naruto's intellect and it took root with force. Naruto's mind _did_ seem clearer now that dark's presence was in hibernation. The field looked clearer, cleaner and brighter than before. It was if a block had been removed. However, there was a new addition to the scenery. A large and slightly familiar cage now held a sleeping form of Dark.

Naruto was quizzed for hours on strategy, stopping to eat and to have his wounds checked by the Shadow medical shinobi. By the end of the day, his brain was pounding from the mass amounts of tactics and battle scenarios that he had solved. He succumbed to sleep, intent on healing as fast as possible to see his father again.

XXX

Uchiha Sasuke walked the streets of Otogakure, ignoring the looks of fear and awe that followed him. He was annoyed at the people of this city in general. "_Kami, you would think that these people could only see the colors purple, off-white, gray and black! I cant find red fabric or even blue anywhere! I am going blind without seeing the green and orange of Konoha!" _he chuckled to himself, "_Naruto would stick out like a sore thumb!"_

Sasuke paused and frowned, "_Why am I even thinking of that dobe? He is not strong enough to earn my attention." _Sasuke ignored the tiny voice inside his head that reminded him of the Valley of the End. He walked to the edge of the town and strode along the walls of the city limits. The gray landscape was wearing on his nerves.

A guard on the wall saluted to Sasuke respectfully. He was considered to be a god in the village. He was both feared and respected for fear of the wrath of Orochimaru.

Sasuke looked up to see the chunin saluting. He instantly wanted out of the village, as the fearful look of the chunin snapped his last nerve. He shouted to the gate guard, "I am going out on a mission for Orochimaru. Open the gates!"

"Hai Uchiha-sama!" the guard jumped at being addressed by the strong shinobi. He quickly opened the gates in fear.

Sasuke strode out of the city, not looking back. He knew that Orochimaru would punish him when he found him, but at the moment the boy did not care, he could always say he was checking the security if he is captured.

Sasuke was making a point. By attempting to leave, he is showing Orochimaru that he can not be controlled like some loyal lapdog. Also, it may finally stop that annoying prophetic dream from coming every time he tried to sleep!

Picking a random direction, Sasuke began to run, no destination in mind and letting fate decide what to do with him.

XXX

'_The world is extremely messed up,' _Uchiha Itachi thought as he headed towards Suna. Because Deidara's partner had not returned from his mission yet, Itachi and Kisame were sent to capture the Ichibi. They had to go into Shadow to find the missing Sasori and Barako as well, or at least the rings. The place where they were did not have any plant life for Zetsu to spy out of, and so Itachi as sent. He chomped his pocky in annoyance.

Kisame was getting twitchy because of Itachi's mood. He was tensed to jump when the Uchiha finally fire-balled someone, most likely him. "Itachi-san…are you-"

"NO I AM NOT OKAY!"

Kisame jumped over a fireball, '_I was so ready for that!' _He thought in satisfaction, but his line of thinking was interrupted when he was hit in the eye with a flying pocky projectile.

"Oww…."

"Suck it up Sharky, or you will be flavoring my ramen."

"Hai Itachi-san. But I am curious, why you are so pissed off, sad to have left your Snaky girlfriend behind? Or wait, wasn't that Orochimaru?"

Itachi glared at the shark, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning, forcing eye contact with a finger pointing. "Tsukuyomi. For the next twelve hours you will see yourself being eaten as a fishcake on a lovely plate of sushi."

Kisame screamed in agony and fainted in terror.

Itachi threw a few non-razor bladed wires around the incapacitated shinobi's arm and began to drag him toward their destination, making sure to take the sharp rocky path to Shadow. The man muttered, "and that girl is not my girlfriend."

XXX

Arashi examined the bandages covering the place where his arm once was. They had to remove it from the shoulder blade onward due to the decomposing flesh that resulted from the claws scratch. What was bugging Arashi, however was the fact that it was so preventable. If he had merely healed the cut before it poisoned his arm, they could have saved it. He sighed, just happy to be alive again, even if he lost a limb. At least now he couldn't do paperwork…

Naruto entered the room, dressed in his red long coat and black shinobi gear. His father looked up and smiled at his son. He was six feet tall, had his blonde hair, but with red streaks, blue eyes although with a silted pupil, and three dark marks on his cheeks.

The boy looked up at his father's small smile and whispered, "How can you smile now? I ruined your life. I cut your arm off. I am a monster that nearly killed you and I prevented any chance of you being the Hokage again. What kind of son am I?"

Arashi frowned and sat up in his bed, "Naruto…I have seen death and returned from it for one reason. To help my son live life the way I was denied. I have been watching, Naruto." His eyes looked colder, "I have seen how you had been treated, abused, scorned. Do you honestly think I want to go back to the village that treated my own son like that? I died willingly and did not expect to return, so even without an arm its an improvement. Trust me, anything here is better than paperwork in the afterlife." Yondaime's voice was filled with so much anguish at the memory of paperwork that the tense atmosphere was lifted.

Naruto was quizzed on his past and for some reason Arashi spent quite a long time talking about Hinata. The entire time Naruto thought, _'So this is what it is like to have a father?'_

_**XXXXXXXXX**_

_**.1 my friend tried it, not fun. It makes the alcohol more concentrated. Never have more than one.**_

_**The battle with Sasori was what mainly kept this chapter from going out. I wished that I could have seen the battle in the anime but it took too long and I gave up waiting. I kind of did a shitty job of it and so I made the battle between Yondaime and Dark better. I promise none of the other Akatsuki battles will be as crappy as that. Also no new information from the manga will effect my story. This includes why Deidara joined. **_


	11. A very late chapter

_**IMPORTANT PLEASE READ**_

_**AS FAR AS THE NEW INFORMATION IN THE MANGA, IT WILL NOT AFFECT MY STORY AT ALL!!!! (sings lalalalala I can't hear you! with fingers in ears)**_

_**After trying to write this chapter, I hit a massive block. When I first created the ghost Hinata acted as, I had imagined to keep it in the vicinity of Naruto's Apartment. I then realized that in order to keep the prophecy (another spontaneous creation) true, I had to make Hinata leave Konoha at some point. Then I had realized the issue of the curse seal, and this chapter was a result.**_

_**As an explanation of my Extreme lateness, I have been blocked. My mom hates Fanfiction. She believes that I became addicted to it, so she put a block on my internet so that I can only go on from 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening. While not affecting my writing as much, the chapter alerts built up and so I had to spend over a week reading after I went on vacation on Internet explorer, and mom gets suspicious if I am on computer too long so I may loose that if I am not careful. Also, I have been creating a Harry Potter Fanfiction as well. It involves Voldemort "killing" Harry and taking over the world, only to have an assassin fight against him ten years later. When Harry "died" it unlocked something Voldemort gave him when he was hit by the killing curse the first time. **_

_**My rationalization: All people have good and evil in them (yin yang theory). Voldemort is pure evil. How? He sent his "good" side into Harry when he died the first time. Thus I created Tromedlov (cliché, I know) who is modeled after an alternate universe Voldemort who fought for light. Sounds a bit confusing, but I would explain it better in the story.**_

_**Voting Results:**_

_**Hinata's Alias**_

_**Bladed Ghost: 1**_

_**Yuureimiko: 1**_

_**Moonlight Wraith: 4**_

_**Guardian of the Demon: 2 **_

_**Demon's Witch: 1**_

_**Queen of Blades 2**_

_**Moonlight Guardian: 1 (by Topher)**_

_**Naruto's Alias**_

_**Akifuu: 1**_

_**Reimei: 1 (Twilight, offered by Lunan)**_

_**Hiaki: 2 **_

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

_**Chapter 11**_

_**Letters or god speak**_

_**XXXXXXXXXX**_

Naruto had been talking to his father for hours. Topics of conversation ranged from his mother to Jiraiya to pranks and the conversation seemed to have no end in sight, however, both shinobi were instantly quiet when a familiar face peeked through the door. Naruto ran up to see the newly recovered fox.

Loki watched in amusement when Naruto fell straight through the bushin and onto the tile floor with a thud. "I so expected better from you Naruto-san… being tricked by the simplest genjutsu in both of our worlds."

Naruto looked up with a glare, ignoring his father's extremely loud laughter. "Well excuse me for being happy that you are not dead.. Good to see your still in pranking form…"

Loki bowed mockingly to the teen on the floor. "Of course, being run through by a metal scorpion did not affect my sense of humor!"

Naruto got up with a huff. His mind formulated a plan involving the fox and a way to entertain himself while he was stuck in the hospital. "Ok then funny guy, I have a job for you, just to make sure you still can get into fox form… I want you to go to Konoha, without being seen of course and tell Hinata that I wish to take her out to dinner tonight and that you will bring her here. You can amuse yourself by pranking random villagers and such, but bring her to Shadow around 7:00 and drop her off in the park by the hospital. Got it?"

Loki groaned, "But I am recovering from serious internal damage and poisoning! I can't phase to Konoha and back without proper healing!"

Arashi snorted, "I healed your furry ass back from the edge of death and chances are now you are the healthiest person here! You will bring that girl to Naruto, and now you have earned yourself another job." Arashi started to rapidly write scrolls, using a bit of power from his bloodline. "Alright, give this scroll to Tsunade, the blonde well-endowed Hokage. Give this one to my old sensei Jiraiya, who is most likely spying on some bathing women. Prank him all you want. This one goes to my student Kakashi, a silver haired man with a facemask and one eye covered. I will pay you extra if you steal every facemask he owns, including the three he wears all the time and every copy of Itcha Itcha Paradise, the little orange hentai book, which he could possibly read. Also give this one to my old teammate Hyuuga Hiashi while you pick up Hinata. Give this final one to my other teammate Tenji. He should still be running a forge in Konoha. Wait for a package from him, I could use some extra kunai."

Loki looked at the pile of scrolls in front of him and sweatdropped. '_I wish I had left when I had had the chance…'_

Loki turned into half fox form, turning the Yondaime a bit pale, and grabbed the scrolls. He placed them into his weapons pouch and turned into a full fox. A quick salute and he phased out to Konoha.

XXX

Loki appeared on top of the hokage tower in an interesting position, clinging to the side of the roof. He scrambled onto the roof, panting and cursing his aim. The three ANBU stared at the fox that seemed to be swearing worse than a sailor who had at one point been a carpenter. Loki gulped and dodged the six kunai that flew at his head. He ran in between the legs of a dog masked ANBU and leaped onto the man's head. The two other ANBU restrained sending more projectiles at their captain's head, who was busy trying to throw off the tiny fox.

Loki held fast onto the silver mane of hair that was currently saving his pelt. He wrapped his tail around the ANBU's neck and shouted "**For Kami's sake! DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER!" **

The ANBU managed to grab the fox's scruff and pull him off, holding the demon at an arm's length. The three ANBU disappeared to bring the unlucky reynard to the Hokage.

XXX

Tsunade looked up to see three ANBU looking a bit disheveled and very pissed. The one in a dog mask had tiny scratched all around his head and hands, even with protective gloves and a facemask on.

The hokage looked at the fox that was struggling in Kakashi's grip and had to force herself not to laugh. "Um…you wouldn't happen to wish to let go of that poor thing right, Kakashi-kun? It's a…summon of one of my friends."

Tsunade looked amusedly on the three ANBU who seemed to be shocked still. Loki fell onto the floor with an ungraceful flop and gave a startled yelp.

Loki sat up and saluted to the hokage with his tail. "**I have a message for lady Hokage from-" **he coughed, "**a former friend who wishes to see you sometime concerning his kin's upbringing."**

Tsunade looked startled and confused. Only Naruto used foxes and he did not have any family to her knowledge.

Loki turned back to Kakashi and coughed embarrassed, "**Sorry for the… interesting meeting, but I also have a message for you from someone who wishes to give you a bit of advice on your teaching skills."**

Kakashi twitched.

Loki looked at the hokage and gestured to the two remaining ANBU. The hokage gave a dismissal to them, and the two bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Loki stretched then transformed into his anthropomorphic form, making Kakashi and Tsunade jump then turn green. Loki muttered, "**What is with humans and the sound of transforming? It is not that bad."**

He handed the two scrolls to the pair then saluted and disappeared. Tsunade examined her scroll and her eyes widened. "K-Kakashi…I think I need to be alone."

Kakashi bowed and disappeared to his flat without a word.

The Godaime looked at the kanji for four and opened the scroll. The letter read:

_**Dear Tsunade:**_

_**Before you shred, burn, destroy or do all of the above to this letter, please read it. You said at one point that you would never take the job as Hokage because they all would die for their village. Considering that you have taken the job, I believe that I may call you a hypocrite. Naruto can be very persuasive, can't he? I guess I am now considered a ghost in your world, but you will be happy to know that I am back and fulfilling my duties that I left behind when I died. I am not taking over your job, there is no way I want it back, but I am now devoting my remaining new life to helping my son, Kazama-Uzumaki Naruto. All of the Kazama fortune and estate goes to him. **_

_**If you were wondering, I was sent back to deal with a pest, but I did the one thing you always told me not to do. I got cocky. Good thing I am right handed, although it is a bit harder to hold my sword without an arm… Oh well, I am alive and that is what counts. Try not to gamble away the money that the taxpayers give you. We Hokage's have a reputation to keep up. Kick the pervert's butt for me and look for Kakashi in the next few hours or so, my messenger has been assigned to take away all of his facemasks. Oh, and Sarutobi says hi. Write to me sometime!**_

_**With love**_

_**Kazama Arashi**_

_**Yondaime Hokage**_

Tsunade looked at the letter in a stupor. Not only had Arashi come back from the dead, but he was also the father of Naruto, and still acted nonchalant about the entire situation. She shook her head and chuckled, he had not changed a bit. She pressed a button on her speaker to Shizune, "Send a squad of ANBU to pick up Kakashi in forty-five minutes, all must be female and under the age of twenty five. Make sure to have them carry cameras. This is a code K."

Shizune, sitting at her desk shot up. Code K meant that someone did the impossible. Kakashi was maskless! She said into a speaker, "All konoichi above the age of twenty please report to the Hokage's office immediately! CODE K!"

Kakashi was legendary for being a sex god underneath the mask. All konoichi were waiting for the day when his face became public.

XXX

Kakashi read his note in the privacy of his apartment, not aware of the fact that he was not only maskless but pornless as well. He read the letter with shock.

_**Dear Kakashi:**_

_**In all my life and afterlife I could never imagine that you would dare disrespect the memories of your teammates as well as my own this much! I have learned of the way you "taught" your students and I am disappointed in you. I came back from the dead to do a job that you neglected to do; teach my son, Kazama Uzumaki Naruto. I found that the council forced him out of his own village. The only one who even dared to help him was the one I gave my life to protect the village from. All I have taught you could have helped save my son but instead was used to teach an Uchiha to kill his brother. **_

_**I do not hate you Kakashi, against all odds I still think of you as a son, so I am going to give you a choice. Find us and plead Naruto's forgiveness and offer to help me teach him or stay in Konoha and lament on your mistake. The pervert and the Hokage also got scrolls, so if you want to know why I am back ask them. Oh and just to make sure you know that I still have a sense of humor, check your mask and books. **_

_**Kazama Arashi**_

_**Yondaime Hokage**_

Kakashi let the scroll roll out of his hand. His sensei was alive but also the father of his student. He had to see the man for himself. It took a few seconds for Kakashi to have the last sentence register in his brain but when it did, he ran to a mirror. His face, without a mask stared back at him in all of its glory. He ran to his dresser to find his spares only to find that they were replaced with suggestive female underwear. He reached for his Icha Icha Paradise and was relieved to pull out the familiar orange cover. He flipped to a page and started to read only to scream in horror.

He dropped it and backed away in fear. He had planned to stay inside his house until he found a replacement mask, but discovered that someone had raided his fridge. He groaned and walked outside. Within seconds he was mauled by every konoichi in the vicinity of his apartment.

'_Shit they have cameras!' _Kakashi thought and tried to escape, but it was futile. At least twenty pictures of him without the mask were taken in a few seconds. Kakashi ran out of the crowd and sprinted to town, praying he could lose them.

Meanwhile, Gai was walking to the grocery store on his hands. He saw his approaching rival and tried to talk to him, but Kakashi sprinted past in a blur. Gai stood up and began running next to Kakashi, "So it's a race you want eh Kakashi? I bet I can beat you to the Hokage Monument!"

Kakashi looked at Gai with the fiercest glare possible.

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL KAKASHI HAS REMOVED HIS MASK! ONCE AGAIN HE HAS BEATEN ME IN LOOKS AS WELL AS COOLNESS!" Gai announced to the entire village. If possible more women joined the mob chasing the silver haired jonin.

Kakashi grabbed his ANBU mask and tried to put it on but when it touched his face it disappeared. He cursed and ran faster.

Gai looked at the group of women following them and asked Kakashi, " What have you done to incur the wrath of the konoichi, Kakashi?"

"Mask- sensei- _must kill_." Kakashi panted tying to save breath.

"Ah so your sensei sent a fox demon to teach you a lesson by stealing all of your masks and creating a field around your face to prevent your from hiding it, not to mention making all of your porn into slash, therefore showing your near kami level attractiveness to the world and pissing you off immensely. Tsunade increased this problem by calling a code K and alerting all females within Konoha to your predicament. I see…" Gai said in unusual insight. He smiled, "You kind of deserve this, eternal rival, think of it as revenge for teaching the Uchiha Lee's techniques. See you in therapy." Gai kicked Kakashi's legs out from under him, causing him to trip and fall, into the awaiting hands of his posse.

Kakashi twitched as he was carried off to a hotel. '_figures that the one time Gai is actually smart he sends me to my doom. I am going to kill him, Arashi and that fox as soon as I am free…'_

XXX

Loki sneezed and alerted the girl behind the counter to his presence. Her eyes brightened, "Kawaii!"

Loki stifled a groan as the girl glomped him. "**Excuse me konoichi-san, but I have a message for your father. Tell him an old teammate sends a scroll."**

Tenten blushed and let go of the cat-sized fox. She apologized to Loki and went into the forge. A blast of heat assaulted her as she entered the door, the room only lit by the fire and the sound of the bellows became louder as she continued back. Her father wore his heavy blacksmith apron and mask. "Dad? A summon is here to give you a message from one of your old teammates."

Her father moaned in annoyance at being disrupted, "Let me just finish this kunai set."

He quickly put the red hot metal into the water with a hiss. "What does Hiashi want now? I just sent the armguards and they should have reached the mansion yesterday."

Tenten looked hesitant, "Something tells me it's not about armguards…"

Her father left the forge and walked into the front and glared at the man in front of him. The orange-red headed boy smiled toothily and waved at Tenten, who gaped.

He pulled out a scroll from the pouch on his hip and caught the coin that the blacksmith flicked into the air. Loki bowed and said, "I will come back for the kunai later."

Tenten watched, as Loki turned around, and then coughed in surprise as a tail waved cheekily at her as he left. Her father was already reading and missed the kitsune's departure.

_**Dear Tenji,**_

_**You are most likely annoyed that I took you away from your work, so I will be brief. I am alive by a strange twist of fate and I need a fifty pack of the kunai that you used to make for me. If you want proof that I am me, I once spray-painted every one of your weapons with neon pink paint. Your face was so worth the hospital trip. Oh and if you want more information on how I survived, ask the Hokage or Ero-sensei. Hiashi will also be getting a letter. Tell your daughter to have fun and that her godfather says hi!**_

_**Kazama Arashi**_

_**Yondaime Hokage**_

Tenji stared at the letter then let a rare smile reach his lips. His best friend was alive. Like his teammate's famous technique, he disappeared in a burst of speed into the machinery, delighted to create the weapons for his old teammate.

Tenten stared at her father in confusion, then shrugged it off as some sort of high paying customer. Her thoughts went back to her next date with her boyfriend, who was going to pick her up in an hour. She shot up and shouted, "SHIT I need to get ready!"

She put a "back in three hours" sign on the desk and wrote a note to her father, then rushed out the door to her house, completely forgetting the bizarre fox-boy that sent the message.

XXX

Tsunade looked up from her desk to see a figure in the shadows of her room. She was alone, after having the ANBU dismissed as well as the Konoichi and she did not expect any more visitors, yet in the corner a woman was clearly waiting to be recognized. The hokage said to the person, "Excuse me but I do not remember asking for a meeting, who are you?"

The figure drifted into the light, revealing the person who had terrorized the civilians for the past few weeks, the one called the Moonlight Wraith, among many other names. She gave off a white foggy light and her many arms stood out on her body. She said in a misty voice, "_I was told I needed to speak with you, Hokage. A team entered my domain earlier on your orders and attempted to determine 'if I was real' and so I stand before you and ask, do you doubt me now?"_

The hokage looked at the apparition and said, "We do not mean to offend, merely to understand why you picked that place."

"_The boy who lived there needs to be respected. He saved this village by sacrificing himself, and yet you people find the need to destroy it."_

"I agree, Naruto was a savior, and that the people should have respected him. Now, you have to know that he is still alive."

"_I know that already. He his currently finding the lost lords, and he has succeeded so far. I will leave once I feel that he is being remembered properly."_

Tsunade thought for a few minutes, "Why don't I offer you a deal? I set up guards around the apartment, all Naruto sympathizers, and protect it from being destroyed, therefore giving you a break and in return, you go and protect Naruto himself from danger. This way, I know he is safe and you know that he is being respected. Deal?"

The ghost seemed to think, Hinata secretly planning how to get out of this mess. "_I will think about your offer. Your actions shall speak louder than your words. I will see what you have done for the apartment, and in return, I will try to help the boy and remove the curses I placed on those who dared to enter the house."_

The ghost disappeared from the room, leaving the Hokage to think about what she just forced upon Naruto.

Hinata changed back then quickly sprinted back to the complex, she had scheduled a spar with her sister and didn't want to be late.

XXX

Hyuuga Hiashi was not a completely arrogant, uncaring individual. He was merely a person with a soul that had torn to shreds due to the massive amount of loss that he had lived with. First, his parents had died early on in his life, causing him to be stoical to the world for most of his childhood, except to his twin brother Hizashi. He grew up learning the beliefs of his clan and was sheltered and honed to be a leader of the clan by the council. When he was placed in a genin team, under the sannin Jiraiya, he almost completely ignored his teammates and believed them to be useless. His actions almost got him sent back to the academy, and the team was only saved from being sent back by the actions of Kazama Arashi. To this day, he cursed the man for making a fool of him in that bell test. The trio of boys became closer, but Hiashi always felt like he was the outcast of the group. He trained alone and only met up with the team for missions, and even then, he barely talked. That all changed during the chunin exams.

_**Flashback **_

_The three boys had passed the written test with ease. Hiashi had used his bloodline, Arashi had merely fallen asleep until the last question, and Tenji had answered the questions with ease. The team was now waiting in a gate in training ground 44 with three vests with two blue pegs on the tops of the shoulders, one on the chest and one on the back and a scroll, each vest numbered with a 1, 2, or 3 and the pegs also had the number written on them. The second test was about to begin._

_Arashi read the directions out loud to Tenji and Hiashi. He cleared his throat then stated, "Teams will don the required vest and proceed into the forest. The object of this test is to knock off at lest three different colored pegs from opposing teams and keep them in their possession and reach the center of the forest without losing all of their own pegs. If one team member loses all of their pegs, the team is disqualified. Sharing of the pegs is prohibited and will also result in disqualification. Wait for the bell then enter the forest. You have five days to complete your task." _

_The three boys put on the odd looking vests and entered the gate as soon as the bell sounded through the forest. _

_Hiashi looked at the blue vest in disdain. The thing was horrible camouflage and stood out against the dark greens and browns of the forest. He hoped that the others were as bright as theirs. He used his bloodline to scan the area for potential threats, spotting a group of purple vested Rock nins headed in their direction. "Enemy targets approaching on the left, ETA seven minutes. Two male, one female, main weapons are umbrellas, possible long range capabilities." _

_The team quickly made a plan and moved into action._

_Tenji pulled out a pair of large throwing axes and faced the incoming shinobi, getting into a stance enabling fast dodging. He was normally the distraction of the group due to his massive taijutsu and weapon strength. He would capture the enemy's attention while the other two attack from behind and above._

_Hiashi leaped into a tree and went into the basic gentle fist stance and prepared to use Kaiten if necessary. He planned sending a volley of kunai at their unsuspecting prey when they got near as well._

_Arashi circled behind the now close shinobi and prepared to attack with stealth and speed. If all went according to plan, the Rock nins would not notice him. _

_When the ninjas approached Tenji, they surrounded him. The leader snorted with laughter; arrogantly "They actually let a runt like you pass? Nice axes, can you even carry those?"_

"_A poor little Leaf nin, all alone from his team…What a pity." The konoichi giggled obnoxiously. _

"_Don't worry kid, we will take you to your team…IN A BODY BAG!" The trio laughed in unison. _

_Tenji chucked an ax at the leader, aiming for the peg on his shoulder and hitting it with the extreme speed and accuracy. He charged up and placed the second ax on the man's throat. He frowned, "If you are going to attack someone, do it. Don't stand there talking about it." _

_The man gulped, sweating. Arashi ran up and Hiashi jumped down and while the other two Rock nins were frozen in shock, they also put kunai to their throats. _

_Arashi nodded to the other two and they knocked the trio out by hitting a pressure point on their necks. They collected the pegs and left the three incapacitated Nins on the ground. _

"_One down two to go!" Arashi said cheerfully. _

_Hiashi snorted, "I can't believe those weaklings passed the first test…" He walked ahead of the other two, scouting for more targets. _

"_Pride leads to the fall." Tenji agreed. A pointed glance at Hiashi was added to the statement. Arashi held his laughter, barely._

_Arashi looked at a river and said, "How about I catch us some lunch?"_

_Hiashi sighed; he turned around and glared at the blonde. "If we stop now, we will not be able to find another team in time to get to the center. We must continue onward and set traps for more targets, therefore completing earlier and being able to rest. Even someone with such a low intelligence such as you can see the common sense in that." _

_Arashi bristled at the insult, "Listen, Hyuuga-teme, we are stuck here for five days. There will be plenty of time to reach the center and we need to keep up our strength. If we argue, it increases the chance that another team will be able to get the jump on us. Truce, for now?"_

_Hiashi sneered at the outstretched hand and said with a voice that demanded no objection, "We continue forward. Our goal is not friendship, it is victory. The sooner I am promoted to chunin the sooner I am Clan Head, and the sooner I am away from you uncouth individuals who I am forced to work with and back to being partners with my brother."_

_Hiashi leaped into the trees, not looking back to see if they followed. Arashi sighed, "I wish he could remove that stick up his ass and see that we are just as good as him." _

_Tenji nodded in agreement and the pair leaped into the trees to follow their teammate._

_XXX_

_Hiashi flew through the trees, lost in thought. 'Why couldn't the hokage put me with Hizashi? The two of them are not even worthy of sparing with me, let alone being on the same team as me. I don't like them and they don't like me. That is never going to change.'_

_He spotted an alone Cloud nin with a pair of large swords and orange pegs. The shinobi's teammates were not in the vicinity and he had not spotted the Hyuuga. Hiashi looked behind him, noticing that Arashi and Tenji were not close enough to interfere. He smirked, 'maybe now I can get something done without those two holding me back.'_

_He leaped down and sent a volley of shiruken at the shinobi, who turned and easily batted away the projectiles with a swipe of his sword. He grinned and sent a bolt of lightning at the Hyuuga, who dodged by leaping to the ground. _

"_Welcome Hyuuga-san. I see that you are alone?" he said in a singsong voice, "That is too bad for you, but lucky for me." He dodged the charge of Hiashi and spun around to avoid the Gentle fist attacks. "I was sent here for the main purpose of acquiring a sample of the Byakugan, and what do you know? An hour into the game and already I have a perfect target." He slashed a sword at Hiashi, who managed to dodge, but was hit by the electric field around the blade. _

_He cried in pain as the nerves in his arm were fried. His arm smoked a bit when the pain left. The strange swordsman danced away lightly. "Hurts don't it? That was somewhere around a thousand volts. I can make it go even higher too, but that would endanger those eyes of yours, and we don't want that now do we?" _

_Hiashi glared and then said, "You are in my field of divination!" He then quickly lunged at the nin and tried to strike his tenketsu points, but when he touched the shinobi's skin, he was blasted back by a powerful electric shock. The other shinobi cackled a fierce laugh and walked up to the fallen and paralyzed Hyuuga, pointing the pair of swords at the boy's face. "That shock freezes every muscle and nerve in your body excluding the organs, causing my victims to be aware of me killing them, Hyuuga-san. Now then," he took out a small kunai, "I believe that I can now take your eyes."_

_Hiashi cursed himself for his foolishness of letting down his guard. He tried to perform a Kaiten, but found the Cloud-nin's words to be true, he could not move. He could not even close his eyes! Suddenly, the sound of wind approached to the left. Arashi attacked the unprepared shinobi with a ball of light and wind. "RASENGAN!" _

_The Cloud shinobi had just enough time to leap back to avoid being drilled into by the ball of light. He turned to face his new opponent. Arashi smirked back at the fallen Hyuuga, "Got here just in time! You owe me!" He laughed. _

_Hiashi was forced to watch, slowly regaining the ability to close his eyes and move. Arashi kept far enough away from the nin to not be hit by the electricity, but close enough to shoot kunai and fireballs. Tenji was moving around the back, still unnoticed by the Cloud nin. He took out a scroll, then leaped into the air and began hurling massive amounts of weapons at the shinobi. _

_The swordsman tried to block the aerial attack, but after missing a chakram that impaled his arm, he was hit in the stomach with a Rasengan, effectively killing him in a shower of gore. Arashi looked on in disgust at the corpse, but plucked a blood stained orange peg off of the cadaver. He then helped Hiashi up and together the team found shelter for the night. _

_Hiashi was humbled by the fact that the two teammates he considered worthless actually saved him from death. He swore to repay Arashi for what he did for him._

_**End Flashback**_

Arashi later defeated Hiashi in the Third exam and soon the three teammates, soon chunin and then jonin were inseparable. Later on, Hiashi was put into an arranged marriage, Arashi was given a gennin team, and Tenji settled down with a wife.

This was a high point in Hiashi's life, even though the war was still happening. But it did not last. A series of deaths occurred, starting with Rin and Obito, his teammate's students who he helped train in his free time, soon followed by Arashi himself. Hiashi cursed the Kyuubi for killing his friend and he vented this anger to the boy who contained the Kyuubi, not realizing that Arashi had secretly married and had a son. His wife died shortly after their second daughter and his brother sacrificed himself for Hiashi throwing him into a depression caused by grief, guilt and anguish, causing him to become distant to shield himself from more sorrow, not even talking to Tenji anymore.

The Hyuuga Clan head became cold and reverted back to an old mask of arrogance and he tried to teach his daughters to not become attached to others to save them from the grief that he himself suffered from. His actions actually did the opposite to Hinata and seemed to work on Hanabi, but he knew that it would not save her.

Hiashi looked at the memorial stone, his heart aching for the ones he lost. He prayed for a second chance.

XXX

Loki leaped across the rooftops trying to follow the scent of the Hyuuga. When he went to the complex, the branch members were milling about trying to find him, but Hiashi was not to be found. Loki's red orange hair blew in the breeze as he ran in his human form across town. He had picked up three new ANBU along the way, but ignored their presence.

"STOP YOU!"

"YOU NEED IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU TO BE HERE!"

"SLOW DOWN DAMMIT!"

Loki sighed; it just was one of those days. He stopped short, causing the trio to continue running past him until they realized that he had stopped. They immediately demanded ID and Loki just said, "go bother the Hokage, I have permission."

He then disappeared in a plume of flame to the area that Hiashi's scent was the strongest, leaving three stunned ANBU behind him.

Hiashi traced over the Yondaime's name with a finger, sighing. He never even was able to repay his debt. He heard a burst of crackling fire behind him and spun around, snapping into the gentle fist stance. He looked at the red haired boy in confusion. "Who are you and what is your purpose?"

Loki laughed a barking laugh, "You know, if I knew my purpose I would be a very happy person. I have a message for a Hyuuga Hiashi?"

He handed over the scroll, then commented, "You may wish to go back to the complex, everyone there are milling about like chickens with their heads bitten off!"

Another barking laugh and he disappeared in a plume of flame.

Hiashi stared at the strange kid, then unraveled the scroll and began to read:

_**Dear Hyuuga-teme,**_

_**Remember when I commented that you can never get rid of me? I guess I was right… due to an extremely unusual turn of events concerning the fate of the universe and my son, I was sent back to life to sort out some problems. **_(Hiashi's face broke into a true smile for the first time in ages, then he wanted to throttle the man for faking him out.)_** Chances are this is kind of a shock to you, and chances are you are going to maul me if I even attempt to come back to Konoha for making you worry, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor…my son is Uzumaki Naruto. **_(Hiashi choked on air)_** Contrary to popular belief, he is not dead. The Kazama clan, as you know, is almost extinct. I do not know how long this second life is going to last, so I need to arrange a marriage for my son to save our clan. **_(Hiashi now groaning with dread) _**I know that they are young, but how would Hinata like to be betrothed to Naruto? He seems to have a bit of a crush on her, and judging by the letters he received from her, the feeling is mutual. Send a scroll to me from Loki, the messenger I sent, and we will talk in person later. **_

_**With care,**_

_**Kazama Arashi**_  
_**Yondaime Hokage**_

Hiashi stood stunned for a bit, then calmly walked back to the compound. He thought to himself, with mixed emotions, '_Why does Kami take me so literally?'_

XXX

Loki watched the old man from a rock on the side of a cliff, snorting at the idea of a man his age peeking in on women. He used a certain jutsu that he borrowed from Naruto, then he inhaled a large breath then shrieked in a female voice, "**EEEK A PERVERT!"**

The mass exodus from the bathhouse was staggering, and the old man jumped up and began to run, but realized that his exit was blocked by a beautiful woman with bright red hair and a fox tail, wearing a revealing green silk kimono.

Jiraiya's mind went into overdrive. '_Oooo, a tail?! Just think of the things a person could use that for... Exotic beauty garbed in jade silk, I could use that for my book! Wait… wasn't I doing something? Something important?' _

The hermit was struck out of his reverie when he was suddenly attacked by a group of pissed off women.

He was about to make an escape when a strong powerful fist punched him into the cliff. The strange woman with a tail said in a feminine growl, "**Sorry, ladies. I just wanted to do that myself! Those books that man writes are terrible! Mind if I take it from here?" **

The group of towel wearing women glared daggers at the unconscious pervert on the ground then left in a huff, feeling that justice was served.

The white haired old man groaned in pain, holding his head eyes shut to the lights. When he opened them, he spotted the annoyed red head. He managed to say, "Excuse me miss, are you related to Tsunade? The punch and the boobs certainly say so."

The fox woman smirked, "**No I am not. Also, that punch was pulled you pathetic excuse for a shinobi. I don't know why I even bothered to save you from those women. If I had not had this jutsu on they would have killed me too! Don't get caught next time!"**

"Jutsu?"

Loki turned back into his male self, making Jiraiya jump back in surprise, causing him to hit his head on the wall behind him. "**Oh stop that, your student was the one who taught me that, so don't act so surprised. I have a message for you."**

Loki handed the battered old man the scroll then snorted in disgust, "**And to think you humans think you are on top of the food chain…"**

He disappeared in a plume of fire, leaving one very confused man in his wake.

Jiraiya scratched his head then opened the letter.

_**Ero-sensei**_

_**Okay, lets get things straight. One, I promise you will be hurt for throwing my son off of a cliff. Two, further pain will be inflicted for continuing to write those books. Three, the Third says hi. Four, I still have yet to hurt you for peeking on my wife that one time. So, in conclusion, pray that Naruto's training takes a long time so that I do not return to Konoha for a while.**_

_**Still alive,**_

_**Kazama Arashi  
Yondaime Hokage **_

Jiraiya's eyes filled with tears at the idea that his student was alive, then he cried when he realized how much pain he would be in.

XXX

Loki once again entered the Hyuuga complex with a scroll in hand. He dodged the guards and slid around the garden in his fox form. Sniffing the air for a trace of the heiress, he caught a whiff of something that made him stop in place. A beautiful flowery scent that captured his nose. He followed the scent through a hedge maze to the center. He found a girl crying by a pond when he made it. She was around nine or eight and had long dark blue hair like Hinata's. He slowly padded up to her and looked up at her face in concern.

Hanabi was upset. She was just beaten by her sister in training, an unprecedented event. If word got to her father about it, she knew she would get the curse seal. In her despair she ran to her favorite place in the grounds, the pond in the maze.

Hanabi felt a wet nose on her hand. Startled she jumped, making the small fox bark in shock. She backed away looking warily at the creature.

Loki looked at the pretty girl's face as she studied him. Her eyes were like a pair of moons surrounded by night colored hair. He slowly approached to avoid making her run away.

Hanabi watched the fox with curiosity, she whispered "What are you doing here kitsune?"

Loki knew she would not expect an answer so he merely walked a bit closer, now within an arms reach.

She slowly stretched her arm out and gently pet the cute fox. The kitsune gave a small purr like noise and moved closer to her, lying at her feet.

She did not know how long they sat there, enjoying each others company, but her worries vanished as soon as she touched the fox.

A branch member finally entered the clearing in a rush and said, "Hanabi-sama! Your father has returned and requested to see you immediately as well as your sister!"

He spotted the fox and glared at it, "Get away from that filthy animal! You don't know what diseases that thing carries." He made a move to kick the fox away, but Loki leaped out of Hanabi's arms and into the bushes.

Hanabi glared at the guard in rage, "Why did you do that? That fox was perfectly fine where it was!" She sighed and was soon dragged off by the guard. She looked back into the clearing to see the fox looking back at her.

She whispered, "Please come back later…"

The fox seemed to nod as she turned a corner, the pond disappearing from sight.

Loki sat in a daze for a while, then he shook his head, thinking, '_why did I do that? I have a mission! AND SHE'S EIGHT! I am over one hundred and eighty seven times her age! I'm not even human!' _

Loki shook his head once more to clear out the troubling thoughts then disappeared to find Hinata.

XXX

Hinata was in ecstasy. She had trained harder than ever with Neji and the many branch members who felt loyalty to her, and finally their efforts paid off. She had defeated Hanabi without using her secret techniques by overcoming her sister's shorter reach and hitting chakra points normally not hit by Gentle fist users, such as the ones in the back and on the feet, causing her Hanabi to trip and become vulnerable to attack.

Hinata felt confidence flowing through her body at the idea that her father may not think she is weak anymore. Suddenly, a single thought ran through her head that brought the entire moment down. If she kept her title as heiress, Hanabi would receive the curse seal.

In a look unfamiliar to Hinata's face, slightly resembling the spirit living in the apartment, her face turned to a look of disgust and anger. Even though her sister had not shown Hinata a bit of love, she was still blood. Her chakra spiked a bit, causing her hair to twist in the air, even without wind. Her Byakugan activated without warning giving her the spectral appearance that the ghost was known for.

She looked at herself in the mirror hanging on her door and stopped. The rage filled face looking at her was intimidating, and yet beautiful. She smiled and calmed herself down. It would not be wise to show her true power outside of the room, but the shock could be a good tool to achieve her goal. She went into her closet to change out of the large heavy coat that was so unflattering to her figure.

XXX

Hiashi paced his office alone, awaiting both his daughters to talk to them about the events unfolding around them.

The door opened and Hiashi had to do a double take. Hanabi stood, with a look of dread normally at home on his eldest daughter's face. Her posture was hunched over and the pompous confidence normally in her eyes was replaced with meekness. She did not look straight at her father, more off to the side. Hiashi was surprised, but attributed it to her loss at the training grounds to her sister.

She walked into the room and stood in front of her father, who had stopped pacing and had a neutral face on. He was not prepared for what happened next.

Hinata entered the room wearing a black T-shirt with a logo that looked like a blade that went across her chest and around her hip. The shirt clung to her body and accented her curves and flawlessly flowed into a black skirt with a slit on both sides for free movement. White bandages wrapped around her toned thighs and ended just above the knees. Her shoes were black boots with silver guards on the shins and open toes. She wore white fingerless gloves with silver guards on the backs and her headband was tied around her neck as always. The entire outfit was a blatant disregard for traditional Hyuuga attire.

Hiashi openly stared at his normally shy daughter in amazement. For the first time in years his face showed emotion. He stumbled on his words over the sheer shock that he was going through, "H-Hinata? Is that you? Where did you get those clothes and what happened!?"

Hinata looked up as if she only noticed that she was wearing new clothes, "Oh, t-this? I-It was just something I-I found when shopping with my friends. D-do you like it?"

She internally hated forcing herself to stutter.

Hiashi cleared his head and said in his normal tone, "I am not used to it. I have called you both here to talk about the training match that occurred this morning. It has come to my attention that Hinata, you have improved your fighting skills and have managed to defeat your sister. Due to this event, the clan Council has ordered a spar between you two to determine who is the heiress of the Hyuuga clan and who will become a branch member. I myself do not agree with this and I would personally prefer to make both of you able to stay in the main branch. I wish to hear your opinions on this matter."

Hinata said in a stronger voice then normal, "Father, I wish that I would not have to fight. If I lose, then Hanabi-nee-chan becomes clan leader, which could be beneficial to the abolishment of the curse seal, as she is second born. However I myself would receive the curse seal and not be able to control my own life anymore. If I win, against all odds, I would try to protect Hanabi-nee-chan from receiving the curse seal, however I am not sure my actions would be persuasive. I would be free, yet still bound to the position of heiress and constantly guarded. I would feel that that would be a violation of my privacy. Is there another option?"

Hiashi blinked. Hinata almost never spoke that much in his presence. Also the stutter that he had become accustomed to was absent. "Hanabi? What is your opinion?"

Hanabi looked up, "I agree with Hinata-nee-chan, both options are not satisfactory. Also, if one of us is injured in the battle, there could be worse consequences."

Hiashi looked at his daughters and sighed. He looked down at the scroll then said, "There is one more option."

Both girls looked up in surprise. He continued, "I have recently received a request from an old friend. He wishes that his son and my daughter join in marriage when they are older."

Both girls started to shout out their refusals, but were silenced by a hand. "If you, Hinata agree and are married to this boy, then you will be taken in by your future husband and put into his care. You will no longer be living in the Hyuuga compound and will immediately leave Konoha to live with him. Hanabi, you will take over as heiress without receiving the curse seal and Hinata, you may leave to your future husband without the curse seal as well, as a sign of the trust I have in my old friend."

Hiashi looked at the faces of his two daughters, both looking close to tears. Hinata stuttered in actuality, "I-Is it the o-only w-way?"

Hiashi nodded. Hinata continued, "Will I at least be able to visit Konoha?"

The clan head said, "I am not completely sure. The boy is on a journey that you will have to accompany him on. Even I am not sure how it is going to progress."

Hinata's lower lip trembled in sorrow. She was about to betray Naruto-kun to save her sister's life as well as her own. "Alright, I will do it."

Hiashi nodded solemnly, "That is a wise choice for someone as young as you. You will be taken to the clan head of the Kazama clan tonight if his messenger returns. He is a red haired boy in a strange silver vest without a forehead protector. You two are dismissed, and Hinata?"

The girl turned around, her eyes filling up with tears.

"I am proud of you."

Hinata nodded and fled to her room, eyes full of tears, not noticing the red fox that had heard the entire meeting and now had an evil vulpine grin on his face. She cried on her futon and sobbed until a person clearing his throat was heard outside her door.

She turned to look at a boy with red hair and a silver vest, just as her father had said. She looked at him with a mixture of fear and shock, "Are you here to take me away?"

The man nodded, his face blank despite the fact that inside his head he was plotting evilly. He changed his voice a bit, just in case she recognized the fox's voice from before, "It is time to go. Are you packed?"

Hinata's eyes widened, "No! Can you give me a few minutes to get ready?"

"Of course, but Kazama-san does not like to wait."

Hinata began throwing random clothes and weapons into a large pack, as well as a photo of her team and one of Naruto and her. "Do I need to pack food?"

The man shook his head. "It will be a short trip. I have the ability to transport far distances fast."

Loki added in his head, '_It is exhausting and I can only do it on the full moon, but I can. Thank kami for the full moon tonight!'_

Hinata had her pack packed, but she wished to say goodbye to some of her friends and relatives. She said with a trembling lip and full watery eyes, "Please Messenger-san, can you give me two hours to say goodbye to my friends and family? I was not aware of this earlier."

Loki nodded and disappeared in a plume of fire.

XXX

"You're WHAT?" Kiba shouted in astonishment. Akamaru whined next to him.

"I am l-leaving. I have been betrothed to someone in a far off place in order to save my sister from receiving the curse seal."

Kiba cursed, "Why are all the cute ones taken or uninterested? I had a crush on you for the longest time!"

Hinata blushed a bit and said, "S-sorry Kiba but I loved Naruto and now I h-have to love this Kazama person. I am sure you will find someone for you."

Shino nodded and said, "Did you tell him?"

Hinata looked down, "I have to contact Naruto somehow, but I can't find my messenger kitsune." She felt her heart break inside of her, but she knew she had to be strong and put up a mask. She steeled herself and became emotionless. She swore to never be weak to Naruto, and she was going to keep that promise.

XXX

"So all I have to do is hide out in Hinata's pack until she leaves?" The small lavender fox asked.

Loki nodded, "but stay hidden!"

XXX

The two boys noticed this shell appear in the Hyuuga's attitude but neither commented on it. Instead, they decided to treat Hinata to lunch at a fancy restaurant. Both quickly stopped off at their homes then returned with gifts.

Shino gave her a beautiful golden bug with green iridescent wings that looked more like jewelry than an animal. He said if she ever needed help, she should send that bug to him. Kiba gave her a scarf that he said would be good if it is cold in her new home. Hinata smiled and thanked her two friends for the gifts. She said, "Don't worry, I will come back soon."

After saying goodbye to her sensei, her friends, and her family (Neji fainted, causing Tenten and his date to be postponed for a few hours), Hinata went into the apartment and removed most of the traps except for the alarm. She headed home and sat in her room, grabbed her pack, and awaited the appearance of her guide.

She did not have to wait long. Loki appeared in a plume of flame with a scowl on his face. Hiashi stood in her bedroom doorway and his eyes were filled with sadness. He whispered, "I am sorry, but it is the only way to keep you both safe. We have decided to allow you to come back to Konoha every holiday. Just think of it as an extensive mission."

"Yes father."

Hiashi sighed in relief that she understood. "I met the boy once. He is…" he struggled to think of a way to describe the blond without insult, "creative?" it sounded more like a question than a statement. 

"thank you father." Hinata gave him a sad smile. She looked at the red haired man and said, "I am ready messenger-san."

Hiashi gave one last message to his daughter. He kneeled down to her and looked her in the eyes, "Remember, even if I don't always show it, I do care for you Hinata. Now, you can come back at any time, but if you agree you can marry him when you turn eighteen. If he does anything to hurt you, tell me and we can call the entire thing off, however Lord Kazama is a kind man. I doubt he would do anything to harm you. Take care."

Hiashi did the one thing Hinata did not expect. He gave her a hug that showed every bit of love he had been holding back. She froze, confused yet happy and returned the hug then stood up and bowed to her father.

Loki smirked and took her bag for her. He then said, "Sayonara Hyuuga-san. Your daughter will be taken care of, **our kind** have a tendency to be a bit possessive."

He turned around and waved a tail in the direction of the Hyuuga leader, out of Hinata's sight, making him choke on air. The pair disappeared in a plume of fire and left the town.

XXX

They reappeared in a small abandoned cottage on the outskirts of Konoha. Loki looked around the area and smiled in approval. Hinata asked in curiosity, "Why are we here Messenger-san?"

Loki replied, "I have a few things to do, and it will not be easy to get to Kazama-san in one trip. Give me a few seconds to gather some supplies then we will be on the road once more. Rest here for a while and I will be back."

Loki disappeared in a plume of fire but when he left a scroll fell out of his pocket. Curious, Hinata opened it to see the title Basic Demon History and Lore for Humans. She blinked then and immediately began to read.

XXX

Loki sighed, "That should keep her busy until I get back!"

He reappeared in front of Tenji's shop, startling the few villagers in the area, and walked in to pick up the weapons.

The blacksmith was covered in ash from the coal to burn the fire, but was smiling hugely. He received payment for the kunai with extra and thanked Loki multiple times with regards to Arashi. Loki put the kunai in a small hip pouch and disappeared.

After the forge, Loki visited the Hokage. He told her about taking Hinata (she chuckled evilly at the fox's plan) and promised to help with restoring the Kazama estate that Arashi left (Loki didn't even know about the mansion at all) and began to make plans for the wedding, ignoring the fact that it would happen in at least five years from then.

Loki placed a shield around the Hokage's office, the forge, Naruto's old apartment (it would not be cleaned until they return), and the Hyuuga compound then set a small circular device in the middle of the village and ran for cover. The air was filled with a noxious black-green smoke that dyed everything and everyone that it touched a bright eye raping pink and purple color. The only way the paint would come off was a mixture of sake, skunk musk, and a green slime or three weeks of time. This recipe was left on the Hokage's desk the next day.

XXX

A man with skin pale as the flesh of the dead sat in a throne watching two large snakes attack and kill a wild boar. His pets needed to be fed only fresh game and he often lost a few gennin trying to hunt a boar down and capture it. He hissed darkly in amusement when the toxins of the snake's venom felled the beast and the two snakes fought over the prize.

Watching his pets fight reminded him of his other pet. He summoned a chunin and ordered him to fetch Sasuke. The light of the fireplaces in his throne room reflected off of his face and gave off a harsh red light. He watched the flames flicker in their never ending dance and waited for his newest vessel to arrive.

After a few minutes of waiting, Orochimaru became impatient. The boy was always in one of two spots, the training arena or his apartment. How long could it take to find him? He hissed in annoyance. Soon the chunin appeared, looking nervous and was shaking. "M-my L-lo-lord Orochimaru s-sama. H-he is g-gone. T-the guards t-told m-me h-he was s-sent o-on a m-mission by y-your greatness t-three days a-ago. H-he was h-headed S-South. W-we believe-"

The chunin did not speak anymore due to the large snake that attacked him and quickly devoured him in a few bites. The other snake was satisfied with the boar. Orochimaru's killer intent soared through the building, freezing everyone in and around in in utter panic and fear. "_**FIND ME THAT UCHIHA!" **_

He sent a group of his ANBU after the boy and sent waves of pain through the curse seal connection. He needed that boy for his body and would not be denied again.

XXX

Hinata was reading the scroll intently. It described how the demon lords were picked, the reaction to oxygen (it was a very recent copy), the significance of the tails, the fact that the Tanuki still have actual tails even though the highest rank is a one tail due to the lack of balance it would cause without them, even if the tails have no chakra powers. The entire culture of the demonic people was at her fingertips. There was even a section on basic jutsu! She was so busy reading that she did not notice the red-head behind her.

"Hinata-chan, what are you reading?" Loki said in a calm faux irritated voice, like he caught a child with a hand in a cookie jar.

Hinata jumped two feet in the air and quickly snapped the scroll shut. She stuttered, "N-nothing messenger-san."

Loki twirled behind her and snatched the scroll with ease. "Interested in demon culture are we? Curious, you do not seem to be the type to be interested in such…bloody topics." His grin was almost Cheshire in nature.

Hinata looked defiant in an instant, "if you bothered to read that you would notice that the violence is based on our air!"

"Precisely. Smart girl aren't you? Now, seeing as you are curious, I believe it would be beneficial for you to read up on the subject. My lord Kazama is…involved?...with demon culture and you will be needing a basic background in the subject. Now, on another note," he tossed back the scroll, "can you do a henge? You need to disguise those unique eyes. We are going to the village of shadows which often deals with Rock. Don't want my lord's fiancé to be attacked, now do we?"

Hinata gave the disguise a bit of thought then turned her hair longer and putting it up into a ponytail, gave herself bright silver eyes, and modeled the rest of her outfit after the ghost, except giving herself a more solidified look and giving herself less arms. She eventually looked like a dangerous assassin to prevent people from coming close enough to notice the henge.

Loki smirked in approval. His plan was beginning to come full circle. Naruto looked completely different from when he left Konoha and now Hinata did not even look like herself. Hinata did not know Naruto was the same person as Lord Kazama and Naruto did not even know he was engaged! His tail flicked back and forth in approval as he began to warp them to the hospital to meet with Naruto and the rest.

XXX

Itachi and Kisame came to the crossroads of the path. On the right was the desert and Suna, on the left was Shadow, and straight was a path into Rice country and Konoha. (_**a/n Twisting geography a bit here**_) Kisame was knocked out and was dragging behind Itachi, facedown in the dirt. Itachi sighed, '_You would think he would learn after the fifth time.' _

Itachi contemplated his choices. If he headed north to Shadow he could find Barako and Sasori. If he went to Suna he would most likely have to take a while hunting down the jinchiruki and capturing him. He could also go to Sound and hunt down his brother and kick his ass for ruining his plans for keeping him safe. '_Concern for teammates vs duty and loyalty to leader vs kicking Sasuke's ass. No question there!'_

Itachi slung Kisame onto a tree and wrote a note. "_**Went to find pocky. Go on to Shadow without me. Meet you there, Itachi. PS don't kill anyone."**_

The Sharingan master disappeared into the forest to find his bother and hurt him in order to protect him. He soon heard shouting and the sounds of battle in the forest and went to investigate the disturbance.

XXX

Sasuke headed away from the village as fast as possible. He knew he was being pursued and it was only a matter of time before he was caught. Pain wracked his body every few seconds due to the curse seal and he did not know how far he could go on before he would pass out. His sense of direction was lost in a haze of pain. He could only move forward. He felt a sharp object plunge into his shoulder and he knew his pursuers had found him. Frenzied shouting soon followed. Sasuke sent a fireball behind him, but it was only a fraction of its normal size and was easily avoided. He felt another shiruken pierce his flesh and a kunai grazed his leg, causing him to trip and have to cling onto the branch with chakra, but his stores were so depleted that he ended up falling from the huge tree towards the ground. Unconsciousness claimed him before he even hit the ground. His last sight was a black figure with a straw hat running towards his falling body.

XXXXXXXXX

_**That's it for this chapter! Sorry it took so long but I have been very busy lately as I mentioned earlier. More to come I promise!**_


	12. Pain, Plans, Snakes, and Meetings

_**Ever have an incompetent friend erase a 26-page fanfic and then have your computer crash and loose half your files? It sucks. A lot. Also midterms, Robotics competitions, research papers, holidays, art projects with impossible deadlines, bronchitis, failed attempts at catching a boyfriend who is completely oblivious to your existence, balancing good grades, and a new puppy kind of fill up your schedule a bit, leaving no room for Fanfiction. On top of that writer's block and failed writer's depression leave little room in my heart to squeeze out a chapter, but I persevere. Luckily I had the voting results on a separate flash drive that I had my friends at school vote on, too, or that would have been lost as well.**_

_**Voting Results:**_

_**Hinata's Alias is now Moonlight Wraith **_

_**Naruto's Alias**_

_**Akifuu: 8**_

_**Reimei: 10**_

_**Hiaki: 11**_

XXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 12

XXX

Sasuke weakly stirred and opened his eyes. The dream had been stronger this time he slept than any other time. He groaned at the light and then passed out due to a heavy punch to the head.

XXX

Itachi blinked and then thought, '_Maybe that was not so good for his injuries, but it sure made me feel better!' _

He looked at the comatose body of his brother. He was bleeding from a large wound on his back due to a fuma shiruken and had many other cuts and lacerations from projectiles. He was bleeding from one of his ears due to a punctured eardrum and was covered in many bruises. He had blood covering most of his clothes and face. In short he looked like shit.

Itachi looked at the dead bodies of the shinobi who were at one point attacking Sasuke and sighed. He sent a quick fireball into the pile and incinerated the flesh quickly. Sasuke groaned once again and Itachi was tempted to hit him once more. What kind of idiot joins a man who willingly steals the bodies of others _regardless _of gender?

"_A_ww_www_www what hit me?" Sasuke moaned. He was lying on the ground with a rolled up cloak as a pillow. He moved his eyes and saw the one person he would least expect. He yelled and tried to attack "Itachi!"

Itachi looked and saw his brother clench in pain and pass out again. He sucked on a sick of pocky and adjusted his armor, "Baka. You are too injured to move."

When Sasuke woke up once again, he muttered, "Must kill…" He tried to move slowly and shuddered in pain.

Itachi sighed again, "You are too hurt to attempt to even walk. If I wanted to kill you I would have already, or at least let those idiots chasing you do it for me."

Sasuke tried to move and passed out again.

Itachi muttered, "This is getting really old."

The third time Sasuke awoke he mumbled, "Why…"

Itachi smirked, "So are you ready to listen and _not _attempt to attack me?"

Sasuke hissed in pain, "Why are you here?"

Itachi looked up to the leaves of the trees surrounding the area they were resting in. His skintight black shirt, chain mail and armor did not give much insulation but they worked for the slight breeze against his back. "Honestly I was trying to find you. You were ruining my hard work at keeping you curse-seal free. Speaking of which, I bound that one the Snake gave you."

Sasuke resisted the urge to move to feel the seal, "What do you mean?"

Itachi chuckled, "Tell me, why do you think I killed our family?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, it was not a question he thought about. Why did his brother kill everyone and what was that weird symbol he couldn't get out of his mind from the dream? Sasuke said the only thing he was taught about that day, "To test your strength?"

The answer sounded false even to his ears. His dreams flashed through his brain. Why would his brother kill his family for strength? He could have taken on the hokage or something if he wanted to do that! Sasuke mumbled, "but that is not right, is it?"

Itachi gave a chuckle, "That fall you took must have cleared your head little brother. No, it was not for strength."

Sasuke's voice became stronger, "Does it involve a man with three piercings on his nose? A man with orange gold hair?"

Itachi's eyes widened, "You know the leader? You know Pein?" His heartbeat increased. Where did Sasuke meet the man who controlled the Akatsuki?

Sasuke broke his train of thought with a rough barking laugh. "So… by you reaction, that man is really responsible for our families death?"

Itachi looked at his brother and sighed, "No, the man who was responsible, or men for that matter were our council. The Uchiha Clan head, our father decided we had grown too large and decided to create a curse seal. It was experimental and the council wanted to test it on one person, _you_. I didn't want that to happen. I figured if you found out you would blame yourself and so I made up the strength lie."

Sasuke groaned "No….Nonono…."

"I sold my soul to the one man I knew who could kill our clan and together we killed the Uchihas. I killed father and Pein said he would kill the others. He ended up killing more than that."

"Our family, our aunts, cousins, uncles…"

"Dead by the time I found out. I killed the one who thought of the idea as well, my best friend. I couldn't get away from Pein either. This ring, this shackle, keeps me tethered to him. I must obey his orders or he will kill me."

Sasuke fell silent. His brother, the one who he had constantly blamed, constantly hated, was just as innocent of the crime as he was. His quest for vengeance, his life's purpose was gone…no…not gone, but rather had moved to another person. Sasuke whispered, "How can you be free?"

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise, "Sasuke, I can't-"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Sasuke shouted in fury, his pain forgotten in a rush of adrenaline, "I hunted you for my entire life, I looked to you as a goal. I SAW YOU AS AN ALL POWERFUL BEING WHO ONLY I COULD DEFEAT! DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP AND ADMIT THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS STRONGER!"

Itachi looked away, "There is not a safe way to remove the ring. It injects your body with a poison so toxic, it can kill in seconds. It is from a snake in the mountains that is legendary for killing its young who are weak. Poetic isn't it?

Sasuke felt as if he was hit. He then recovered and said, " But we have poisons experts! We have enough technology to make anti-venom! I will not lose my brother again."

He said the last sentence in a whisper. He had had no brother for the longest time, hated and despised the only remaining family member he had, and now that he had been given a second chance, he refused to give it up.

Itachi shorted, "I am a missing nin, an infamous one at that. What kind of hospital would heal me?"

Sasuke replied, "It doesn't matter! Tsunade-"

"Thinks I am out to kill her "little brother." She would never even attempt to heal me, only leave me bleeding and spasming in the hallway." Itachi said grudgingly. "Also, no cure has been found for the venom of this snake. It would take years of research and I do not have that kind of time.

The brothers sat in silence. Sasuke's stomach voiced its opinion on what the next action should be. Itachi chuckled remembering his brother's pleads when they were little to try his candy. He looked at the box of chocolate covered biscuit sticks and said with a grin, "Want a piece?" He handed over a piece of pocky over to Sasuke, who was slowly beginning to be able to move. Sasuke had flashbacks of his brother never sharing his favorite snack with anyone and gratefully accepted the subtle peace offering.

Sasuke sat up with a bit of difficulty. He was wrapped in bloodstained bandages and was very stiff. His cuts had been partially healed, but they were still open and the air stung when the wind hit in the wrong way. "You are not the best medic are you?"

Itachi scowled jokingly and sneered, "I don't often need to heal anyone!" His brother smiled and looked down at his worn body. Itachi sighed again and handed Sasuke a soldier pill and a box of his pocky.

After eating in silence, Sasuke tried to stand up, Itachi helping. He moaned in pain and rested his weight on his good leg. Itachi sighed, "We need to get you to a healer. You can't travel like this, especially while you have those idiots from sound after you. Shadow is closer than Suna so we will head there. Hopefully you aren't in their bingo book yet."

Sasuke moaned in angst, "Why the hell did I even bother going to Orochimaru? He barely gave me anything except the contract for snakes and a sword!"

Itachi smirked, "Don't forget the mutant hickey."

"Yeah! Wait, WHAT?" Sasuke looked at his chuckling brother in annoyance.

"That seal is only temporarily sealed by the way. We will need to find a Sealing master soon to remove it. I believe that will be our next stop after we get you to a medic. However, sealing masters are rare and hard to find due to their nature of being quiet and wise for learning the ancient art. They are mostly hidden from the world and some have even taken vows of silence…"

XXX

"HOW DID YOU CAPTURE HALF MY STONES IN FOUR MOVES?" Arashi cried in frustration to his smug looking kin.

Arashi sighed, seeing no further moves that could allow him to win, "I forfeit."

Naruto crowed in triumph and began a victory dance, swishing his long tails behind him, his long ears twitching in time to the song he was humming. His long red and yellow hair was back in a ponytail to keep it out of his face, too.

Arashi grumbled, "It is not a big victory if it's over a one-armed man…"

"But it is if the one-armed man was a famous strategist and the Hokage!"

Hao and Denkou looked at each other, Denkou looking upset, Hao looking extremely happy. Denkou was now two thousand ryou poorer.

Arashi spotted something and smirked, finding an opportunity for revenge, "Naruto? How often do you increase your weights?"

Naruto froze and looked at the man, "Um…I deactivated the seals a while ago…how did you know I wore weights?"

Arashi grinned, "I didn't think you did but now that I know you have them, I think that we should start your physical training. Make your weights…300 pounds or 3X gravity if you have those seals."

Naruto stared, but did as his father asked, falling into a face plant by the extreme gravity. Arashi snickered, "When you can get up you can start doing pushups."

XXX

Deep in Iwagakure, a meeting was occurring. Three Mafioso-like men, some of the most powerful and richest in the country were also playing a game of strategy.

A bald man with a large scar down his face from his temple to his jaw was speaking. "How many years has it been since the war? How many years has it been since the Yellow Flash killed hundreds of our men and women and forced us to surrender? Too few I say. And now, because of a trio of _demons_," he spat the word, "we are staying out of a war that is the one chance to defeat those tree-hugging fools and send them to their knees!"

Another man with light blue hair in a mullet like fashion sneered, "Rumors of the Red Whirlwind have sent our troops into a panic, Xain. We cannot attack his homeland while he could be in our city as we speak! This will take careful planning and time. Also the demons are aware of us and will easily discover our actions before we can even throw a kunai."

The last man, his hair a dark greenish yellow and strange horn-like protruding bones on his skull, spoke in a thoughtful tone, "Interesting idea, Xeel, and I have a plan. We need to sow the seeds of revolution in the troops, starting with the clans we command. It shall take time, but we need to make the armies believe that the old kage is senile and that we should lead the country. Have the ones loyal to us infiltrate the armies and gain control. The ones who fight against us shall have accidents, die in missions too difficult for them or the like. At the point that the troops have been converted, Konoha will no longer see us as a threat and we can attack swiftly without warning."

The two men nodded in agreement, The bald man commented, "Xelnas, your plan seems good but then what do we do with the Tsuchikage and the council?"

"Kill them of course, but blame it on a Konoha assassin. Any doubts the village would have would be erased and they would hunger for the blood of the Leaf."

XXX

Loki stopped off at a small village off of Shadow. He needed to talk to Arashi without Naruto or Hinata overhearing. When they reappeared in a burst of flame, Loki looked exhausted. He almost collapsed in the field in front of the town. Hinata gasped and tried to support him despite her own dizziness from the journey.

"Messenger-san, are you alright?" she cried in alarm. She helped him sit down on a rock.

"I am fine Hinata-san. Did you take the traveling okay?"

Hinata nodded, "I am fine, but you shouldn't use that jutsu anymore, it seems to take up a lot of your chakra."

Loki grunted an affirmation, "I am sorry for not taking you to your fiancé fast enough, it is just that that jutsu is only powerful the closer the moon is to full. It is starting to wane and the teleport jutsu becomes weaker."

Hinata sighed, "Its not your fault, messenger-san. How about we stay here for the night and you can rest then we will walk to Shadow from here."

Loki nodded, his plan going well despite a few setbacks, "That would be fine. My name is Hayao by the way."

The two rented a pair of rooms at a hotel (Loki: No Hinata-san you will not pay for your own room! Hinata: But it would be rude of me to let you pay!) and then toured the town.

On a wall they passed were photos of bounties for hunting. Loki spotted something interesting and stopped to look. Hinata questioned, "Hayao-san, is there something wrong? I want to go to that shop over there."

"No, don't worry about it, I just have to check something. Meet me at that tavern over there soon."

Hinata disappeared into a clothing store while Loki checked the posters.

While she was in the shop she realized something that was a bit strange to her. Earlier Shino had mentioned that she had to tell Naruto that she was leaving, but everyone should think that he was dead. Kiba also did not seem as surprised as he should have. She pondered this while she walked through the store and could find no logical explanation to it. (_**Author oops)**_

Outside Loki scanned the images plastered on the wall. There was some kid with a straw hat and a red vest smiling, an unusually pale man with red tattoos across his body splattered with blood and holding two wicked looking swords, a guy with blue hair wearing armor with a rapier and looking princely next to a shorter red haired boy also wearing armor, some guy wearing a green hat and tunic with blond hair and elf ears playing a blue flute like instrument with a blue glowing thing, a panda holding a sign next to a gender confused person, a mustachioed man wearing blue overalls and a red hat with an M and shirt, a red haired samurai with an X shaped scar, a man with black hair yellow friendly eyes a bell collar a weird looking cylindrical machine in his hand and a XIII tattoo, a guy with a huge ass sword and spiky blonde hair next to a poster of a silver haired man with one black wing and an equally huge rapier, both having way too many zippers on their patchwork outfits, some guy in an orange training outfit with highly improbable glowing hair, who seemed to be floating, a green oddly formed creature with a long tongue laying a white and green egg, a pink ball with a huge mouth red feet and black beady eyes, a man wearing red tinted sunglasses over his yellow eyes with a broad red hat and a predatorily feral grin with fangs, some smart looking kid with a black book and one of the strangest looking creatures behind him, and interestingly enough, a badly drawn sketch of Naruto labeled as "Red Whirlwind" that looked more like a rat than a fox and had bright red hair instead of red and yellow. _**(Try to guess these!)**_

Now Loki couldn't get theme songs out of his head, but he had to laugh at the ridiculous image of Naruto. He went to go find Hinata at the tavern and discovered that it was in an uproar.

Hinata was standing, looking pissed off, and there were the unconscious bodies of four large rough looking men around her. The tavern was a slightly seeding looking bar and most of the patrons looked more amused than angry. That's what they get for trying to pinch the butt of a small girl.

The bartender chuckled, "I am sorry miss, those men were completely out of line. Would you like a free drink, some soda perhaps?"

Hinata sat down and Loki followed and ordered a sake. Hinata commented, "Aren't you too young to drink?"

Loki smirked, "I am older than I look." '_By about a few thousand years' _"And besides, if you are old enough to have killed, you are old enough to drink."

Hinata frowned, but let it go. She figured that she would understand when she had to take another's life. She changed the topic, "So, what is Kazama-san like?"

Loki began to smile again, "Well…there are a few unusual family traditions that you must be aware of before the two of you meet."

Hinata looked confused but listened adeptly. Loki continued, "There is a legend of a man who was a prisoner in a princesses castle. The princess was kind but her father was not. She disguised herself as a soldier and gave food and water to the prisoners once a week and when she met the man, she fell in love. Everyday for a year she went down to the dungeons in disguise, not even knowing the man's name. He soon fell in love with the kind female guard who helped heal him when he was hurt and fed him when he starved. The princess freed the man, but he stayed in the cell so that they could be together. One day the princess and the man rounded up the other innocent prisoners and overthrew the evil king. They only learned the other's name when they admitted their love for each other."

Hinata smiled, "So the two were the Kazama ancestors?"

"That is correct. According to tradition, the betrothed must not know each other's first names until they admit their love. Also they can only see each other between sundown and sunrise until then."

Hinata looked shocked then thought of her sister and nodded, "Alright, I will try to remember, but I have one question. Can we give each other a fake name, like an alias? I can't call my future husband "you" for the rest of the time."

Loki's smirk widened, she was making this prank too easy. "He is known as the Red Whirlwind by those who do not know his name. I seem to have heard of a Moonlight Wraith in your country. You may want to use that alias."

Hinata jumped, '_How did he know I was the Moonlight Wraith?' _"Do you think I could use that name?"

Loki cocked his head thoughtfully, "I don't know who the real Moonlight Wraith is but I am sure she wouldn't mind you using her name."

Hinata chuckled nervously. "So I am Moonlight Wraith and Kazama-san is the Red Whirlwind. Is there anything else I need to do?"

"You must stay in disguise, we are in a territory that is not our own, therefore we cannot take the risk that you will be attacked, although you may take off the henge when we arrive at a secure location."

Hinata sighed, "So my future husband will not know what I look like or even my name?"

Loki nodded, "I fear that is how it is going to be."

Hinata looked at the bartender and ordered a glass of water after debating weather to buy a stronger drink or not. She did not need to be intoxicated in a strange place, although after beating up those two thugs, she doubted that she would be harassed. "Hayao…do you think he will like me?"

Loki chuckled, "I am sure he will love you for all time."

XXX

At night, after Hinata went to sleep, Loki sneaked out of his room. He looked at the moon, which was nearing the half stage, and sighed. He had enough power to warp twice and then Hinata and he would have to walk. He quickly disappeared into a plume of fire, not wanting to waste time.

XXX

Arashi was just finishing dinner. The others were going to go visit the twins and Sazanami and he was left alone to eat. He looked up curiously at the fire and asked, "Loki, you were supposed to be here three days ago. What took you? Naruto has been worried sick that Hinata refused his offer."

Loki complained as he picked himself up off the floor. He had once again felt very weak after the warp. He muttered, "Oh sure… he wasn't worried that I had been killed or taken hostage…"

Arashi chuckled. Loki chucked the package of kunai at the man who managed to catch it with one hand. The fox stated, "You have fucking weird friends…"

"So where is Hinata?"

Loki's face grew to a smirk. "Listen to my brilliant plan for a spell," he ignored Arashi's groan, "Now we both know how deeply in love Naruto is with Hinata, right?"

Arashi nodded, his dread increasing.

"Well, your friend Hiashi was having a bit of family problems. I found out that the Hyuuga council was about to put the curse seal on either Hinata or her younger sister Hanabi. Now, we both know that that would cause problems for both Hinata and her family due to the enraged kitsune they would be having attack their house."

Arashi nodded smirking at this image of his son toasting Hiashi's butt. Loki continued, "So Hiashi kind of took your letter as a wedding invitation. He told Hinata that she would be betrothed to _**Lord Kazama**_," he made extra emphasis on the name, "and told her to basically pack her bags. Now, seeing as this would be a great way for the two of them to be together on this training trip and the fact that it would improve morale greatly, I decided not to correct Lord Hyuuga. Now, I soon found out that Hinata did not know that Naruto and lord Kazama were the same person, as well as the fact that the ghost Hinata has been masquerading as now has the nickname Moonlight Wraith and is now believed to be a super strong konoichi by some villagers as well as a few ninjas. So I developed a plan. Hinata doesn't know I am a kitsune and Naruto looks completely different from before. Hinata also has changed a bit as well as now is wearing a disguise. What if we tell both of them that they are betrothed but not their names?"

Arashi and Loki had the same evil look on their faces. Arashi finished, "that way they have no clue of the identity of the other…"

"And they both eventually blab their loyalty to another person,"

"Therefore declaring their love for each other,"

"And realizing who the other is!" they finished in unison.

"It's the perfect wedding present!" Arashi cheered.

Loki and Arashi began planning a story for Naruto and plotting the meeting.

XXX

Loki disappeared from the room and back to the hotel. The two pranksters had decided to tell Naruto that he was being married to a shinobi from a family in the Fire country that Arashi had known for years. The other family was in dire straits and when Arashi contacted them, they asked for his help. Their daughter was a konoichi who was one of the strongest in the city, but she would be forced into slavery if she did not find a husband soon due to a tradition of the town. The only way to save her was to marry her off to a clan that was stronger than theirs. Her clan was the strongest in the city so they needed to find someone outside the city and Arashi's son was the only one the right age. Tradition states that the married ones must not know each other's name and that the girl must be in disguise. Also they can only speak between sundown and sunrise.

Loki knew that Naruto would throw a fit but he knew that the others would be able to take care of it. When he got back to the hotel, he saw a mushroom cloud on the horizon and smirked.

XXX

The next day Hinata and Loki began the trek to Shadow. They stayed in the trees and off of the path to avoid other travelers, but Hinata used her Byakugan to keep a look out. It did not take much time before she spotted the two figures in the distance.

"Hayao-kun? I see two people. Both have black hair and one is wearing what seems to be armor. They are moving slowly, but both are definitely shinobi. They seem to be heading to Shadow as well."

"Shall we move closer?" Loki said as his natural kitsune curiosity kicked in. The two sped up and easily caught up to the pair.

Hinata gasped and stopped dead in her tracks. Loki stopped as well and whispered, "Hinata-sama what is wrong?"

"I know those men…. That is Sasuke Uchiha and his brother…but it can't be… they would never be even civil to each other let alone travel together. Also Sasuke seems to be injured but instead of killing him Itachi…looks like he is helping him?" Hinata's voice was a mixture of shock, awe and disbelief.

Loki tried not to let his face show any emotion but inside he was as shocked as Hinata. Naruto had told him all about his rival and the man's obsession with killing his brother and now the pair were headed to Shadow. Were they aware of Naruto's existence? Both had reasons for hunting the new Kyuubi and Loki could not help but be worried. He tried to keep his nerves from his voice, "You should speak with them. If they are injured, they can't be a threat. ('_I hope') _ Show them your true face though, but I will be armed and protect you if anything goes wrong."

Hinata was already moving to the pair of Uchihas. She ran next to the pair in the tree branches and shouted, "Stop!"

Both Uchihas froze and leaped to the ground to a clearing and turned around to face the woman coming up near them. Itachi's eyes darted to the forest around them and began calculating their odds. He decided that he should not fight with Sasuke in such an unstable condition and began planning for a quick escape. The girl did not look fast enough to keep up with him but the trees were dense and hard to maneuver in. He needed to think this through more and he prayed for a quick distraction to give him time to think.

Sasuke shouted back, clutching his wounds, "State your names and countries or we will attack!" Itachi could have hugged his brother but kept plotting escape routes.

He scanned the forest and spotted another possible enemy and this one looked like a much more experienced shinobi, possibly a chunin. Escape seemed a lot less likely, especially with Sasuke this injured. He swore to make himself an Otokage skin jacket if he ever ran into that snake again.

The brothers shared a glance Itachi's Sharingan twirled in unison with Sasuke's. They jumped down into a clearing below and both pulled out their blades and flowed into the opening stance of their taijutsu. Itachi did not want to use the Mangekyo for fear of chakra exhaustion, but he hoped the thought of facing two of the legendary Uchiha would scare off their pursuers.

Hinata jumped down to the spot the brothers were in and Loki followed. Hinata removed the henge and said in a concerned and panicked voice, slightly afraid of and for Sasuke, "Sasuke-san, its me, Hyuuga Hinata. We were in the academy together if you do not remember me. Please, tell me why you are with your brother!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. The girl in front of him was not the Hinata he remembered, this was not the shy girl he remembered. His thoughts flew to the thought of an imposter then he glared at the concerned girl. "I currently trust him more than I do you! Prove that you are who you say you are and not an imposter! If you are Hinata then who is behind you? He is covered in red fire in my Sharingan."

Itachi nodded, "Mine as well. Remove whatever illusion you have on and drop your weapons."

Hinata grew more nervous and shakily stated, "N-Naruto-kun once died your hair p-pink and dumped a bottle of pink and purple glitter glue on you in Iruka-sensei's class and added feathers in the span of five seconds and you did not notice because you were asleep but you were henged to look like you were paying attention."

Sasuke and Itachi both stared at the girl for a span of at least two minutes until Itachi turned his head away and "coughed" into his arm to mask his chuckling at his brother's expense. Sasuke was turning a few shades of pinkish red and had imbedded his blade into the ground in shock. He managed to choke out, "A-alright, so you really are Hinata, but who is behind you?"

Loki stopped writing the prank down in a small notebook while smirking and then shot up and brought his hands up in a placating manner, "I am merely the messenger for my lord Kazama. Hinata-san is betrothed to my lord and I am merely trying to bring her to him. I am using a henge to cover up a disfiguring scar I received from battle. Hinata-san, if you would please turn around so that I do not frighten you I will drop the henge."

Hinata obeyed, still blushing, and Loki put up a kitsune illusion that masked both his aurora that the Sharingan caught as well as added a ropey red crater of a scar that made his half of his face look severely burnt.

Itachi and Sasuke both noticed the effects of a fire jutsu and winced. They nodded and Sasuke said, "Alright, you may replace the henge. Hinata-san, I do not know why you are being sent off to Shadow, but I need to go there for medical treatment. My brother saved me from the Sound ninjas that were hunting me because I fled Oto. He killed my father to save me and now he is cursed for it. We need to get there as soon as possible and cannot waste more time here. I will explain it more later if we run into each other." He ignored the yellow-red blood that was starting to drip out of the wounds and through his clothing.

The two Uchihas turned and were about to continue but were stopped by a shout from Loki, "Your wound looks infected. I have something that can help that, also we have some extra food if you need it as well."

Itachi looked at his brother and spotted the stream of tainted blood. He put a hand on Sasuke's good shoulder and forced him to stop. The man looked as if he could help. The fox grabbed a large tube of something that resembled ointment and handed it to Sasuke. "Here, put this on the wounds. Hinata-san, do you have the few grilled fish we had?"

Hinata nodded and pulled out a small container and handed it to the two Uchihas. Itachi took it and bowed his head in thanks. Once Sasuke had put the ointment into his pack he tried to leap up into the trees but he grabbed his side in pain and sunk to his knees and once again fell to unconsciousness, the strain on his body too much.

Itachi crouched down next to his brother and laid him down on the floor of the forest. He said, "I do not know either of you two, but I seem to be in need of your service. Can you help me get my brother to the hospital?" You could tell it was killing him to ask for help. He looked at his brother and sighed, he was becoming worse and needed to get to the city.

Loki nodded and immediately began to apply the ointment, made from a plant that only existed in the demon realm, onto the wounds. Itachi and Hinata watched in awe as the yellowness of the infection died down instantly and the swelling of the area stopped.

Loki had to comment on his poor shape, it reminded him of Naruto's injuries. He stated as he rewrapped fresh bandages, "By all rights he should be dead. I am amazed that he has stayed alive for this long. You need to get him to a hospital."

"Thank you, medic-san." Itachi said with respect. He would not have seen the festering of the wounds and it would have easily killed his brother if they had not been found by friendly shinobi.

Loki laughed, thinking of his green furred friend. "No, I am not a medic, those guys are insane. All of our shinobi are required to know basic first aid. We all have kits for this kind of thing. Hinata, would you mind going into the woods to find some food as well as a few cotton plants from the patch I saw earlier? We could use it."

Hinata nodded and disappeared out of earshot from the three.

Itachi thought about Konoha's training regimen and nodded, "The first aid would be a smart thing to do in our village as well. We are going to war soon and we will need medics on the field."

"So it is "we" now."

Itachi looked at the fox in puzzlement.

Loki sighed, "You said we and our when mentioning the village. That gives a person the idea that you still consider yourself a shinobi of Konoha, despite that lovely headband." He pointed to the slash marked metal plate.

Itachi opened his mouth to argue but was cut off. Loki chastised, "Do not try to tell me I am wrong. You just admitted that you were going to fight in a war and the only village I know of that fits that is Konoha, or at worse case Otokagure, but I can see that that is not the case now is it, Uchiha-san."

The Uchiha eldest closed his mouth with a snap, the man was right. He responded, curious, "What do you know about Konoha? You are not from there and neither is your lord."

Loki debated on weather to tell Itachi the truth and decided for it, "Itachi-san, I may not come from Konoha, but my lord does. I also know enough about you to trust you. Tell me, Lord Uchiha, do you remember a boy with blond hair, whisker markings, blue eyes, and a bit of a problem with a demon?"

Itachi stiffened, thinking back to his earlier humiliation with the fox. "I do."

Loki smirked, "Congratulations on trying to capture Lord Kyuubi himself as well as the Yondaime's son. My name is Loki, one tailed fox warrior as well as soon to be guard of Lord Kazama-Uzumaki Naruto no Kyuubi." He broke the henge and reveled the tail and ears.

Itachi grimaced, "I was forced to fight him, I had orders…wait, he is now the Kyuubi himself?"

"Tails, ears and all!" Loki waved off the other man's shock, then responded to the earlier comment, "I understand, it is the ring, right? I had a lovely chat with another Akatsuki member a while ago, Barako I believe? She explained the entire mess to me. I believe that she wishes to get rid of it as soon as possible as well, but she has a bit of a crush on another member, who I might add, I also met."

Itachi kept being surprised with this demon. He founded it strangely…refreshing, "where is she? I have a mission to find her and if I do not, the ring may activate."

"Shadow of course. Your destination and ours. Poor Naruto-kun is fate's bitch lately. You are welcome to come with us but you must stay in disguise. We may be able to get that problem of yours taken care of and heal Sasuke, but you would need to let me put on a more powerful henge on the both of you."

Itachi's eyes widened, "What do you mean get my problem taken care of?"

"Well, we offered this to Barako but she refused. If we cut off your hand and then remove the ring, we can reattach it and you will be free of the affects."

Itachi's face broke into an actual smile. He would be free of the curse! A hand is a small price to pay for freedom. He bowed and said, "I will be eternally grateful Loki-san."

"Good, now hold still, this may tickle a bit." Loki reapplied his henge in case Hinata came back then flashed through demonic hand signs and placed a high level disguising jutsu on the pair. It could not be removed by anyone but the caster and it did not fade or use up chakra once applied. It was very specific however and took a bit of time to create. It also kept all physical injuries and could not cover bloodline traits so the two would still have their Sharingan as well, although it would appear as normal eyes to anyone looking on, as the many cuts on Sasuke would stay.

They both had a dark auburn hair color and their charcoal colored eyes as well as slightly damaged armor that was torn where Sasuke was cut. Sasuke looked older and had long brown hair that was in a braid. Itachi, by contrast, had short brown hair that spiked up in the front but was poker straight in the back. Itachi wore a long sleeved black jacket with a black shinobi vest under it as well as black cargo pants. Sasuke wore a similar outfit but in a dark slate grey. Itachi looked at Loki with disdain and felt his new hairstyle, "Do you realize how long it took me to get my hair to fall that way?"

Loki gave a vulpine snicker and shrugged, "At least you won't be recognized. Also I highly advise you do not reveal your identities to anyone, it would be bad. You are now Lady Hinata's bodyguards and in on no circumstances will you tell her that Naruto is Lord Kazama or tell Naruto that "The moonlight wraith" is Hinata. It is a surprise wedding gift."

Itachi looked the fox with confusion but agreed anyway. Sasuke began to stir next to them and blinked open his eyes. Loki kneeled down next to him and said, "Your brother has decided to stay in our group and come with us to Shadow. We will get you the medical care you need there, as well as free your brother from his servitude. I already placed a disguise on you and Itachi so that you are not found, but do not tell anyone who you really are. Also, Hinata needs to keep her identity a secret for obvious and unobvious reasons. Nod your head if you understand me."

Sasuke nodded, his head still reeling from the faint. "How far away is Shadow?" he moaned.

Loki said with a smile, "Not very far. We head out as soon as Hinata returns."

A few minutes later Hinata had five large brown roots that she insisted were edible as well as a few bits of cotton that Loki quickly used a jutsu on to make more bandages. "They were called putahtous or something by my cousin." She said with confidence after they looked at the brown lumpy shapes.

They each tried one and grimaced at the bland taste, but the two Uchihas were happy for the food instead of just pocky. Sasuke seemed to be recovering well but would still need medical attention. The demonic foxes ointment had never been tried on humans so Loki was using Sasuke as a test subject. So far Sasuke had no ill effects so the fox noted that it was safe.

Hinata asked Itachi and Sasuke, "What can we call you now that you are in disguise?"

Itachi thought back to his ANBU days and immediately answered, "Weasel."

Sasuke shook off the idea of calling himself snake and after some thought he decided on "Crow."

Hinata reapplied her henge as they got closer to the border of Shadow country and her new fiancé and with each step she became more nervous. Sasuke noticed her shaking hands, which were trembling even though they were moving. He commented, remembering the mention of her marriage, "Hinata-san, if you do not know this man why did you agree to marry him?"

Hinata looked down, "I cannot let my sister or myself receive the curse seal. If I stayed at home to-" she stopped herself before she blabbed that Naruto was still alive, "wait for someone I love to come along, my sister would receive a curse seal. I can't let that happen."

Itachi nodded with understanding, "You are sacrificing yourself for your family. I can understand that."

Sasuke looked at his brother and the two seemed to share a conversation without words. Sasuke looked back at Hinata and said, "I guess that you want closure after Naruto's disappearance from Konoha?"

Hinata almost tripped but managed to simultaneously keep in tears as well as maintain balance on the tree branches under her feet, "Yes, I miss him a lot. Was it that obvious that I liked him?"

Sasuke snorted, his voice full of nostalgia for his friend and rival, "Seemed like you and Naruto were the only ones oblivious of that fact. Do you know where the dobe is? Last time I heard he left after trying to find me."

Hinata decided to tell Sasuke the false story, she did not want him hunting Naruto down "He was sent on nine S-Rank missions by the council of elders, Sasuke-san. They wanted him dead and after the first eight, they gave an even harder one. He did not return from it." She let tears fall from her eyes to make the story more believable.

Loki caught Itachi's eye and shook his head out of sight from Sasuke. He mouthed the word "lie" to him and Itachi barely nodded.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked down, falling silent. His one friend, the man he considered an equal was dead. He punched a tree with enough force to make a huge crater and make his wounds and knuckles bleed, but he managed to still stay up as well as pull ahead of the others. He needed to be alone with his thoughts.

Itachi watched his brother in curiosity. Naruto and Sasuke were obviously close at one point and the knowledge of his death seemed to hit him harder than most. Smirking at the thought of Sasuke meeting a new Naruto, who apparently became a lord of demons, Itachi asked Loki, "How much farther?"

Loki snorted, "At our rate, two hours, at your brother's… forty five minutes, or at least until he collapses again, which by my estimation should happen soon. Your brother has remarkable stamina for a normal person." The fox restrained himself from saying human.

Itachi shook his head, "He is a bit unusual isn't he? How long do you think he will realize that he would gain the Mangekyo Sharingan if Naruto actually died?"

Hinata looked at him from the corner of her eye suspiciously, "You know that he is not dead?"

Itachi shrugged, "The Akatsuki would have been informed if he had died. Besides I saw him in the past."

Loki answered Itachi's question, "Sasuke doesn't seem to think things out that much. He was Orochimaru's personal whipping boy for how long?"

Itachi nodded, "Good point. When we were kids I told him that the reason that our parents had red eyes was that they ate too many tomatoes and gained super powers. To this day he will eat those things by the bag, even though he knows about the Sharingan."

Loki filed that away for blackmail material, as he laughed harder than he had in a while.

The group continued in silence after that, each occupied by his or her own thoughts. Itachi's mind slowly wandered back to the girl the Akatsuki had captured. He felt a shiver down his back and prayed to Kami that she was still alright.

XXX

The girl who had come there in a kimono and without any knowledge of the shinobi world was slowly breaking. Itachi, the one who had given her real food and talked to her, had been gone for a while. The only person who she could talk to now was Deidara and he was not given the job. A man with too many stitches and a facemask had replaced him and now feed her rats. She had managed to go without eating them for a while but she was beginning to starve.

Orohime felt light headed and swooned, the hunger pangs getting to her.

A dark plain opened up in her mind. Dark vile looking trees without leaves, taller than her, and green gaseous fog floated high above. The grass under her feet was an acidic looking green and was slightly squishy like it was rotten. Contrary to the anticipated, the entire area smelled strongly of almonds (_**guess this one) **_and not the fermenting plants. A smell, slightly bleach and slightly ammonia, also emanated from the trees.

Orohime looked down and saw that she was wearing a dark green outfit with long sleeves and a skirt that was slit up the sides. It was a bit big and showed her malnourished form. Under the skirt were black bandages and they were also wrapped around her ankles. A pouch was also at her side and it clinked while she walked, like there was glass in it. She approved of the outfit but was confused as to where she was.

She walked down the path in-between the trees until she saw a pulsing green-yellow light. She hesitated then approached the small cage made out of vines and dead trees that the light was coming from. Two bright green-yellow eyes looked back at her curiously.

"**Orohime…you have suffered much. Come closer, I won't hurt you." **

She hesitantly came closer and gasped at the giant snake in front of her. It had black scales that shone green and teal in the light. At the end of the snake's body, the tail turned bright green-yellow and first branched into two, then four, then eight long thin tails. The snake had a beautiful hood like a cobra with the same color of the tail and had ornate designs on it. The demon was obviously female. Her breathing was a soft hiss and she smelled like soft lavender perfume. She transformed into a woman before her eyes. The now mostly human woman wore a kimono in the same color as her scales.

She walked forward to the bars of the cage. "**I know of your troubles. I fear that we do not have much time to get to know each other, but you need to trust me. I cannot rescue you from this prison, your body is too weak to handle a transformation, but I can keep you in a mental stasis until another arrives who **_**can**_** save you. You will not need to eat or drink until the time comes where you are awakened. However, I need you to drink this potion willingly, or we both shall die in here**." Her voice was soothing and hypnotically calmed Orohime. The girl looked at the bottle that was being held up to the bars and the almost pleading eyes of the woman, then grabbed the bottle and drank it in a swig.

"What's one more gamble to a dying girl?" She said as she slumped to the ground, asleep in an instant.

XXX

Naruto was miserable. He was torn between the decisions of marrying a girl he had never met and staying with the one who had been there for him for most of his life. On one hand, his father had begged him to marry this Moonlight Wraith girl in order to prevent her from becoming a slave. Apparently, her father was a friend of Arashi's and his dying wish was to see his baby girl safe with a caring husband. On the other hand, Hinata was the only one who had looked past the fox, his mask too, and saw the real boy hiding from the world. She was the only one who had cared for him and stuck with him even after the rest of the village thought he was dead. Bitter tears stung the backs of his eyes but he refused to let them escape.

The demons had left to visit Sazanami after the visit to the twins and had left him alone in the hotel that they rented to stay close to Arashi while he was recovering. The man would be free to go in three days and then the group would head off to Suna to talk to Gaara.

Naruto stretched out on the bench outside in the waiting room and closed his eyes, only meaning to get a few winks of sleep. He woke up with a start when the Akatsuki woman from the fight touched his shoulder. Their heads collided and both groaned in pain.

"Ow, and here I was trying to be helpful by waking you up." Barako said, rubbing her forehead in pain. "You will get a horrible back ache sleeping on these plastic benches."

Naruto gave her an untrusting look then sighed, "Sorry about that. I have a lot on my mind and I guess it just wiped me out. Why are you still here anyway?"

The vampiress smirked, flashing her fangs, "Decided to help out a bit around here. In exchange for a bag of blood from the bank, I give a bit of healing advice and some plant tips for the herbs that can heal."

She held out a seed and handed it to Naruto. The boy took it and looked at her strangely, then gasped as the seed began to grow in the palm of his hand. It started as a stem and rose up, sprouting odd teal colored leaves with thorns. A bud sprouted out and grew into a trio of roses. Two were as pale as the moon and intertwined themselves around the single red rose. Barako gave a thoughtful hum, "Never saw a trio of life blooms that entwined before. Love and purity. Interesting. I wonder how it will turn out…"

Naruto gave her a stare that looked like he was hit with a 2x4 to the face. She laughed and said, "Sorry kid, I cant help you with that, those girls don't know what they are in for." She disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto felt a shudder up his spine and sighed, "Why is my life so full of crazy people?"

He sighed and thought for a while. For the girl he did not know, this wedding was a matter of life and death in theory. He moaned again and thought, 'Well, at least I may be able to get an annulment and send her off to Konoha after a while.'

XXX

Hinata felt more and more nervous as they approached the village. What if he did not like her? What if she fainted like she used to around Naruto? What if he was a cruel person?

Many questions buzzed around her brain like Shino near a bug zapper.

Sasuke and Itachi had retreated into themselves and were typecasting for the role of stoic bodyguards. Sasuke's injuries had looked better but needed attention fast too. As they passed the borders, the guards respectfully bowed to Loki and let them through.

The fox led them through the night to the hospital and quickly briefed Hinata on the situation. "Okay, so as you know, Lord Kazama and his father, Arashi, as well as us bodyguards are traveling the continent. Recently however, Arashi has had a bit of a tragedy occur. An old enemy had appeared and despite our best efforts, he cut off our master's arm. We will be going to the hospital first to see him and most likely Lord Kazama."

Hinata gasped and looked down at the ground, feeling waves of pity for her father-in-law. Itachi stared at Loki and the question of Naruto's father's identity burned in his now coal black eyes. Sasuke merely grunted a "hn" in sympathy and winced at the idea of losing an arm.

"Oh, and one more thing…The Kazama clan is known for their genjutsu, and they often wear a lot of disguises that make them stand out in a crowd when in friendly territory, or blend into it in an enemy one. I am guessing if you use your Sharingan on them, it would be painful, if not blinding. My illusion was only a fraction of the strength a full-blooded Kazama's would be. What ever you do, do not attempt to look at Arashi."

Itachi and Sasuke glared at the fact that their Sharingan could be defeated and scoffed, both silently making the pledge to look at him. Loki smirked, knowing that Arashi's white gold aurora _would_ indeed be near blinding, and therefore discourage them from trying.

As the group entered the hospital, the nurse led them to a section of the hospital that was closed off for "maintenance purposes" which was really to keep people from panicking at the sight of the demons. As soon as they entered, Loki spotted Naruto hunched over and said formally, "Lord Kazama-san, your betrothed has arrived."

Hinata inhaled fast and examined her future husband. He had gorgeous blond and red hair that spiked up and went down to his back. He wore a red cloak and black shinobi gear, but no headband on his person. She had to gasp at the tails and ears, but then remembered what Hayao had said and internally accepted that. His face had long lines on it that stretched far to the back of his head, and she guessed it was some sort of marking of his rank. His eyes were a blue with red and purple mixed in, a beautiful color that she had to adore, but they had hints of sadness in them as well as pain and guilt, they were a crystal so pure that it held her gaze without letting her go until they returned to the floor. His mouth was a neutral line and showed his unhappiness.

She sighed and thought of Naruto the entire time she looked at the man who was her fiancé, then thought of Hanabi and decided it was for the best. His pain seemed to mirror her own, she had to notice.

She bowed to the boy and said in a hollow voice, "It is a pleasure to meet you Lord Kazama. Thank you for saving me from my fate."

Naruto examined the girl in front of him. She had dark hair and light grey eyes, the color of diamonds and they caught his attention. She wore a very nice outfit and also seemed to be a shinobi. She seemed a lot more outspoken than Hinata, yet still had a bit of shyness. To his understanding, she looked as upset and in pain as he was about the entire marriage arrangement, but he guessed if he was deciding between slavery and matrimony, he would make the same choice. Her voice was a bit harder than Hinata-chan's, as if it had seen the cruelties of the world.

"Nice to meet you too Moonlight-chan." He said in an equally hollow voice.

Hinata thought his voice was a very pleasant baritone and slightly deeper than Naruto-kun's was.

Loki stepped forward and said, "Lord Kazama-san, I fear that one of lady Moonlight-sama's guards, Crow, was seriously injured and is in need of attention.

Naruto's head shot up in surprise, he stood up and asked in alarm, "You were attacked? I will get a doctor immediately."

He looked at the two silent guards for the first time. One was obviously in pain, but was trying to hind it, although his wincing was giving it away. The other, obviously older one was studying his face carefully and Naruto felt as if his soul was being examined. The older one slowly smirked and bowed, "Ohayo Lord Kazama-sama. My brother was attacked by missing-nins while he was fetching water. He defeated them but was injured in the process."

Choosing his words carefully, Naruto asked, "What name shall I call you by, Guard-san."

"I believe Weasel will do."

Crow coughing up blood, and a nurse immediately bringing him into another room interrupted the conversation. Naruto winced sympathetically and looked to his fiancé, who seemed distraught. He immediately tried to console her, hating when any woman was upset, "Excuse me, Moonlight-chan, but would you like to go rest? I am sure your journey was tiring. You can come and stay at the hotel nearby or if you prefer, in the guest suite here to stay with your guard to make sure he is alright."

Hinata thanked him for his kindness, noticing his attempt at making her feel comfortable, "I think I will take the room here if it is alright. Crow-kun needs to be around someone familiar, I think."

Itachi nodded and said, "I can take the room next to hers."

Naruto led the pair to their rooms and as soon as Hinata shut her door for the night, he turned to Itachi. "Your room is next door, Weasel-san"

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Kazama. Oh, and that tail illusion is very impressive. Almost makes me think that you really are part fox. Messenger-san, I await that promise you made me."

The man smirked and shut the door before Naruto could make any comments. Loki only smirked at his questioning face and turned around before he could ask, disappearing in a flash of fire.

Naruto muttered, "Why won't anyone ever talk to me?" He stalked off to his own room next to Arashi's and flopped down on his bed.

Logic commented in his head, "Shouldn't the names Weasel and Crow ring bells to you?" 

"_Huh?"_

"**Think back. I know it is hard for you to remember but try to puncture the think layer of your skull.**" Kasai cynically replied.

"_They were in the Prophecy, right?" _

"**Yup. Give the kid a prize"**

"**Oh no." **Both logic and Kasai said in tandem.

Naruto heard a struggle in his head and heard a shout from Sadness, "I don't deserve to live, let me die!" 

"**Stop being emo!" **Kasai shouted, taking a knife from the persona, "**You don't even exist!" **

"Let him try, Kasai, it wont do much good anyway. Boss is having a shitty week anyway. It may cheer him up a bit." Logic commented

"**Does it need to mutilate itself? Blood is so hard to get out of the grass!" **

Naruto tuned the figments out of his head and tried to sleep but soon realized it was futile. He got up and went to his father's room to ask for advice.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway, realized _who _he was going to get advice from and turned around to go back to his room and watch TV, chastising himself for being so stupid.

XXXXXXXXX

_**Finally done. I thank all of you for sticking by me for my hiatus and hope that you all continue reading. I am not sure if I should get Naruto and Hinata to discover each other's identities soon or wait, so I will leave that up to you guys. Tanks for reading and reviewing!**_


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